The movement began in Canada in 1974 in support of prisoners’ rights and to remember all the people who have died of unnatural deaths while incarcerated.
[2] On April 14, 1975, a Coroner's Inquest was filed into the death of Edward Nalon and the following recommendations were outlined:[6] On May 21, 1976, Robert (Bobby) Landers died while in segregation at Millhaven Institution.
[2] Landers tried to call for medical help, however, the emergency system within the prisoners' cells was not functioning, despite having been recommended for repair during the coroner's inquest into Nalon's death.
[3] Prisoner justice committees formed in several provinces across Canada; including Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia, and contained both incarcerated and non-incarcerated members.
The Odyssey Group was formed by fifteen long term prisoners with the goal of bringing awareness to outside community members of the injustices committed by the Canadian Correctional Service.
These punishments were imposed for participating in the August 10th protest or for holding a leadership position in a prisoner justice committee.
The following demands were published on August 10, 1979, in The Odyssey Newsletter:[3] Other changes were pursued, including reforms to solitary confinement and over-incarceration of marginalized groups.
[18] Prisoners' Justice Day advocates want to combat the overrepresentation of racial minorities and marginalized peoples in penitentiaries.
[7] The overincarceration of Indigenous people is a "colonial effect"[19] in countries formed through colonization such Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States.