Woman's lengthy stay in Yellowknife RCMP cells unconstitutional, rules judge

A judge has ruled that a regular practice of the Northwest Territories justice system holding women who are awaiting bail hearingsin Yellowknife inRCMPcellsis a violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Women in custody awaitingcourt hearings in the cityare often held in the RCMP detachment cells because there is no women's correctional facility in Yellowknife.

On Friday, Judge Robert Gorin reduced a woman's 10-month sentence to eight months because of the charter violation.

The woman had pleaded guilty to trafficking cocaine. She was kept in RCMP cells in Yellowknife for 12 days.

"If she had been a male offender, in the normal course, she would have spent a day or two in RCMP cells," said her defence lawyer,PeterHarte.

A man in the same circumstances would be housed at the North Slave Correctional Centre.

Harte successfully argued that the extended stay in RCMP cells violated the woman's constitutional right to equal treatment under the law.

"At North Slave Correctional Centre, you're not in solitary confinement or close confinement as it's now called. You're in the general population, you get to watch TV, you get to go to the bathroom without having a camera watching you."

The Crown had asked for a sentence of 15 to 18 months.

There's no word yet on whether the Crownwill appeal the ruling.