Quebec Judge Orders Review Of Inmate's Grievance Over Porn TV Channels In Prison

MONTREAL — A Federal Court judge has ordered a new review of a Quebec prisoner's grievance over access to TV channels showing late-night pornography.

 

Forty-six-year-old Haris Naraine filed a complaint after corrections officials cancelled two cable channels in March 2013, saying he and other inmates at the Montreal-area Archambault Institution paid for them.

 

The channels were cut after Correctional Service Canada instructed prisons across the country to remove all sexually explicit material from facilities and to block X-rated television content.

 

Naraine argued corrections had no right to censor what the inmates legally bought and said limiting access violated their charter right to freedom of expression.

 

The service denied his grievance in March 2014, saying the right to access the material was not absolute and that banning the channels helped maintain a safe environment, especially for female correctional officers who expressed concern.

 

In an affidavit, Naraine said he spent time in two other prisons where he had access to pornographic movies without any complaint from correctional officers.