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2mo ago

B.C. Supreme Court Orders Treyvonne Willis’s Return to Minimum-Security Prison

Justice Eric Gottardi ruled that procedural fairness requires clear findings of fact before elevating an inmate’s security classification

William Head Institution is shown through a security fence in Victoria, on Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2008. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Lam

Overview

  • Willis was moved from minimum-security William Head to medium-security Mountain Institution in February after a guard reported seeing him kiss a correctional manager, which he denied, saying they only hugged
  • Gottardi found the warden’s transfer decision unreasonable for failing to establish that kissing occurred and for not addressing the inherent power imbalance between inmate and staff
  • The ruling, posted August 7, directs Willis’s return to William Head Institution pending any further disclosed action against the correctional manager
  • Willis has served a life sentence for a 2012 first-degree murder since 2015 and had been at William Head since November 2023 before his emergency involuntary transfer
  • Correctional Service of Canada has not publicly disclosed whether it has taken disciplinary measures against the staff member involved