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TORONTO — An Ontario judge erred in determining that the possible harm caused by solitary confinement could be managed by monitoring inmates and pulling them out of isolation if they appear unwell, a civil rights group argued Tuesday in challenging the ruling.

Lawyers for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association told a three-judge panel at Ontario’s top court that knowingly exposing inmates to harm and then removing them after harm has occurred amounts to cruel and unusual punishment, which contravenes the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

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“Every inmate who goes in is exposed to the real risk of serious harm,” lawyer Jonathan Lisus said at the appeal court hearing. “Those who suffer harm, it is often permanent and severe,” he said, citing paranoia, depression and suicidal ideation as lingering effects in some cases.

The association is arguing Ontario Superior Court Justice Frank Marrocco didn’t go far enough in ruling that isolating inmates for more than five days in a practice known as administrative segregation is unconstitutional because the system lacks proper safeguards.