Woman who spent 16 days in ‘dry cell’ confinement at N.S. prison settles civil lawsuit

Lisa Adams is led into court in Truro, N.S., Monday, Nov. 9, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Michael Tutton

HALIFAX — A woman who says she endured cruel and unusual punishment in a Nova Scotia prison has settled a civil lawsuit she filed against the federal attorney general almost five years ago.

Lisa Adams filed the lawsuit after she was placed in solitary confinement in what is commonly referred to as a dry cell for 16 days.

Dry cells have no toilet or running water. They are used to monitor inmates to determine if they have ingested contraband or hidden it inside a body cavity.

Adams’ lawyer issued a brief statement confirming the settlement, but Mike Dull said he could not disclose terms of the settlement or details about financial compensation.

“(Adams’) advocacy around the use of dry cells in Canadian correctional facilities — an invasive, degrading and ultimately unlawful practice — has resulted in a national shift,” Dull said Monday in a statement. “Thanks to her bravery, this harmful practice has now been banned across Canada.”

In a statement of claim filed in November 2020 with Nova Scotia Supreme Court, Adams says she was locked in a dry cell after correctional officers at the Nova Institution for Women in Truro, N.S., wrongly accused her of hiding drugs in “balloon-like packages” in her vagina.

The statement says conditions in the cell were “harsh, humiliating and harmful.”

In a separate court case, a Nova Scotia Supreme Court justice ruled in November 2021 that Adams’ constitutional rights had been violated, and he ordered Ottawa to reform provisions of corrections law that discriminate against women.

Justice John Keith’s decision determined the law did not take into account that a substance suspected to be hidden in a woman’s vagina wouldn’t necessarily be expelled during detention. He said that created a risk that women would be unjustly detained.

Though Adams won that case, it was a Charter challenge that answered a question of law. As a result, she was not awarded compensation.

In the 2020 statement of claim for her civil lawsuit seeking damages, Adams says that she was sent to the prison in Truro after she was accused of using crystal meth at a community residential facility in Cape Breton on May 2, 2020.

The statement says her well-documented history of mental health issues were exacerbated by her lengthy stay in the dry cell.

“On the first day of her placement (on May 6, 2020), the acting chief of health services (at the prison) ... expressed concern … that a prolonged stay in such an environment would likely result in a deterioration in mental stability,” the statement says, adding that Adams repeatedly denied possessing any contraband.

Adams started having suicidal thoughts as her mental health declined, according to a health worker whose observations were ignored by prison staff, the statement of claim says.

Six days into her stay in the dry cell, Adams was taken to a hospital for an X-ray, but a doctor turned down the request because it wasn’t considered a medical procedure, the statement says.

The next day, a doctor was summoned to the prison to conduct a pelvic exam on Adams, but the physician cancelled the exam because Adams was suffering from hallucinations and incoherent speech.

On Day 14 of her incarceration, another doctor conducted a pelvic exam and found “no foreign bodies” in her vaginal cavity or elsewhere on her body. Still, Adams was forced to stay another two days in the cell before she was released back into the prison’s general population.

The statement of claim says Adams was placed in the cell without lawful justification and was subjected to unacceptable conditions that included: constant exposure to bright lights; constant monitoring of all showers and toilet usage; denial of meaningful human contact; denial of outdoor privileges and constant observation from behind a glass wall.

The lawsuit says Correctional Service Canada owed Adams a duty of care, but instead it was negligent by failing to safeguard her physical and emotional needs, as well as “permitting cruel, unusual and excessive punishments.”

The lawsuit goes on to say prison officials also disregarded medical evidence of substantial harm.

In a statement of defence, the attorney general of Canada said that a urine sample taken after Adams was placed in the dry cell indicated she had ingested methamphetamines after arriving at the prison.

And the document says Adams had reasonable access to legal counsel and medical care. It also says Adams declined body cavity and X-ray searches on May 12-13, 2020.

The statement, however, goes on to say the federal government “acknowledges that the confinement of the plaintiff in a dry cell in the circumstance of this case was regrettable.”

In April 2022, the federal government announced it would ban dry celling for inmates suspected of carrying contraband in their vaginas.

And in October 2024, Ottawa introduced regulations to limit the duration of dry cell detentions, improve inmate monitoring and begin using body scanners to detect contraband.

“While the civil case has been resolved, the impact of (Adams’) actions will be felt far beyond her own experience,” Dull said. “She stood up not just for herself, but for the rights and dignity of women across the country.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 18, 2025.

Michael MacDonald, The Canadian Press