
Pre-trial lockdowns now a factor in sentencing, says Handlarski

Time spent in lockdowns at an Ontario detention centre is rightfully becoming a significant factor in sentencing, Toronto criminal lawyer Ryan Handlarski tells the CBC.
Handlarski, principal of RH Criminal Defence, made the comments following a written decision by Justice Katrina Mulligan in the sentencing of a drug dealer caught selling heroin to an undercover police officer, the CBC reports.
The Ontario judge pointed to "unduly harsh custodial conditions" at the Toronto South Detention Centre (TSDC) in deciding against imposing additional jail time for the heroin dealer, who was in custody for slightly more than 200 days awaiting trial. During that period he was on lockdown 38 times, the CBC says, citing a letter filed in court from a TSDC security manager.
Handlarski tells the CBC that a judge recently granted one of his clients facing drug charges an extra four months credit toward his sentence. The judge cited TSDC lockdowns, caused primarily by staffing shortages, as the reason, he says.
"Judges are sending a message, I think, that you're going to get significant credit … because this is a bad situation," Handlarski tells the CBC.
"We can't just turn a blind eye to it."
In an email to the CBC, a spokesperson for the province writes there are "sufficient staff to run the institution in a safe and secure manner and new staff are added on a regular basis."
However, Monte Vieselmeyer, chairman of the corrections division for the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, tells the CBC, the Toronto South jail continues to be short-staffed.