Stuck inside, Stateside

>> U.S. ignores international pact by keeping Canadians behind bars

by KRISTIAN GRAVENOR

In 1985 David Desorcy, a Waterloo grad from London, Ontario, was hanging out in Palm Springs, Florida with his American girlfriend, peddling small amounts of cocaine. One day the phone rang and a voice offered him cash to drive three kilos of cocaine to Michigan. Desorcy, a nickel-and-dime operator, hesitated due to the large amount. He eventually agreed to deliver the shipment.

The deal was a sting organized by a drug felon granted immunity in exchange for setting up other drug arrests. Desorcy was busted and tried under Michigan's infamous 650 Lifer law for his role as a drug mule. The law ordered that those even peripherally involved in the trafficking of over 650 grams of cocaine or heroin receive life in prison without parole. Desorcy and four other Canadians were sentenced to prison with no chance of parole until death.

Stars and bars

"A lot of people would be surprised how many Canadians are doing extremely long sentences in the U.S. Mandatory minimum sentencing laws have led to obscene sentences compared to what we have in Canada," says Graham Stewart of the Ottawa-based John Howard Society.

"Some inmates are kept 23 hours a day alone in a cell, and when they're allowed out they're handcuffed and shackled with a stun gun held against them," says Stewart.

Although Ottawa and Washington signed a prisoner exchange treaty in 1978 that would have seen inmates like Desorcy returned to Canada, where he'd likely have been paroled long ago, the U.S. federal government has never forced individual states to sign onto the deal. Delaware, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina and West Virginia do not participate in the treaty, and New Jersey, Massachusetts, New York and Michigan routinely refuse to return prisoners, citing the discretionary nature of the agreement.

Of the 1,560 Canadians arrested and detained abroad in 1999, two thirds of those cases occurred in the U.S. Incomplete data suggests that figure rose 10 per cent last year. One third of Canadians arrested abroad were busted for drugs, making it the most commonly prosecuted offence.

Diplomacy needed

Being returned to Canada can mean better conditions and more family visits. It can also lead to faster freedom. "Parole doesn't much exist anymore in the states," says Genevieve Gélinas of the Montreal-based Prisoners Rights Committee. "When a Canadian prisoner with no chance at parole in the U.S. returns, he could get out on parole." Gélinas believes American governors fear such moves would be unpopular with voters, a fact that makes them think twice before repatriating inmates. "Some states will just say 'No, we've exercised our discretion.' But if the prisoner exchange program is completely discretionary, what's the point of having it?" she asks.

Canada has become hesitant to return Americans to face their own justice system, points out Bruce Zigaris, a Washington attorney and international crime specialist. He notes that inmates on death row--a population that currently includes two Canadians--spend six to eight years on death row in conditions tantamount to cruel and unusual punishment based on standards in Canadian and international human rights charters.

Zigaris says that Canada could raise pressure on Washington to force the U.S. to obey the prisoner exchange pact. "Washington forces the States to do all kinds of things," he says.

Odyssey nears end

Meanwhile, Desorcy's niece Jennifer has been trying to get her uncle free, so far with no luck. But pressure exerted by groups like Families Against Mandatory Minimums has made Michigan one of the few states to relax sentencing laws. Since 1999 some of the 650 Lifers are now eligible for parole after serving 15 to 20 years. Desorcy had a parole hearing in October. "First they lost his paperwork, that killed a month, then they thought he wanted to be transferred to another state. They just kept getting it wrong, we're completely ravelled in red tape," says Jennifer.

She says that Desorcy, a rugged 6'5", is holding his own in prison while two of his countrymen--also minor players in the deal gone bad--are now free in Canada. "One was a good-looking blond guy, he's small and pretty cute, you can imagine what he went through in prison," says Jennifer. "He was in rough shape when he came back."