Reflections on 40 Years of Advocacy to End the Isolation of Canadian Prisoners

For over forty years, Michael Jackson has acted as an impassioned advocate for prisoners’ rights. This article focuses on the author’s experience as a vocal critic of the practice of solitary confinement in Canada’s maximum-security penitentiaries. Reflecting on his years as a practitioner and professor of criminal and Aboriginal law, the author approaches solitary confinement as the ultimate exercise of state authority. Beyond the conditions and contexts of solitary confinement as a punitive measure, the article examines the reports conducted by government bodies and other agencies, raising questions about the failure to limit or otherwise reform the practice of solitary confinement in Canadian federal prisons. The author discusses the progress made both from a correctional law and human rights perspective.