DCHP-3

gate ((v.))

DCHP-2 (Oct 2016)
v. — Law, Administration

to detain a prisoner who otherwise would be released on serving two-thirds of a sentence.

Type: 3. Semantic Change — Inmates who have served two-thirds of a prison sentence are required by law to serve out their sentence in the community under what was called "mandatory supervision" until 1992. If an offender was deemed a danger, he or she could be gated (see the 2014 quotation). In 1983, gating was deemed illegal by the Supreme Court which deemed that a return to prison could only take place if the released person broke the conditions of release or re-offended. However, under new laws, although the Parole Board does not control mandatory release, it may issue a detention order if the prisoner is deemed likely to commit a serious offence.
The term is perhaps inspired by an older meaning of gate 'to confine (an undergraduate) to the precincts of the college, either entirely or after a certain hour.' (OED-3, s.v. gate v.1).
See also COD-2, s.v. "gate (1) trans.verb (3)", which is marked "Cdn".

Quotations

1983
Gating means that the parole board sends back to prison inmates going out of the prison gates on mandatory supervision.
1987
The Supreme Court of Canada refused Thursday to hear a challenge by a British Columbia inmate that the new gating law violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
1988
Moore, 30, who gained notoriety as the first female inmate to be gated after being declared a dangerous offender by the National Parole Board, was found dead in a prison hospital bed at 5.20 p.m. Dec. 3. It is believed that she killed herself.
1988
In contrast, 78 inmates were gated in nine months from July, 1986, to March, 1987, immediately after legislation was passed to permit gating.
1991
In a survey of 100 inmates who were gated in recent years, 97 of them were native, Ms. Sugar noted. In her own case, the prospect of being gated made her want to commit suicide, she said.
1992
Mandatory supervision is granted automatically after an inmate has served two-thirds of his sentence, unless he is deemed likely to commit another serious offence and is "gated" - held until his sentence expires.
2002
Laarhuis recommended that only 30 days be added to Vaillancourt's sentence [...]. As a result, he told Mr. Justice Megginson that the inmate "has been gated" and his release date is now some time next year.
2014
The 56-year-old man, who can be identified only as P.S., was imprisoned for 45 months, beginning in 1992, for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old boy in a YMCA washroom. When his sentence ended, he was "gated" - detained immediately by mental-health authorities, certified as a pedophile and committed to a maximum-security hospital.

References

  • OED-3
  • COD-2