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A judge has ruled that a former Edmonton Remand Centre inmate held in solitary confinement for more than one year suffered a cruel and unusual punishment for which he should receive a reduced sentence

Justice Dawn Pentelechuk issued her decision in court in December. In a written decision released Friday, Pentelechuk awarded Ryan Prystay 3.75 days credit for every one he spent segregated at the north Edmonton jail, saying the treatment violated his Charter rights.

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The ruling paints a picture of life inside the Edmonton Remand Centre’s segregation cells, where an average of 100 inmates are held at any given time for up to 23 hours a day.

Inmates are held in cells for 23 hours a day with almost no “meaningful human contact,” Pentelechuk wrote. Perhaps the hardest thing for Prystay, she wrote, was not knowing when he would be allowed to rejoin the jail’s general population.

“This triggered intense feelings of helplessness and hopelessness,” she wrote. “The cruel irony is that the longer the inmate is kept in (segregation), the more likely frustration and a sense of futility will trigger impulsive and negative behaviour, which in turn provides the evidence to justify continued indefinite placement.”