N.S. premier rejects Clarke's offer to resign for prisoner gaffes

Nova Scotia Justice Minister Cecil Clarke says he offered his resignation after the latest prisoner was released in error, but the premier refused to accept it.

Clarke said he spoke with Premier Rodney MacDonald late Wednesday after his department announced the second mistaken release of a prisoner in eight days.

"I am responsible for the management and oversight and governance within the justice portfolio and I offered, and he did not accept," Clarke told reporters Thursday.

MacDonald said his justice minister is doing a good job.

"He's doing a tremendous job with respect to the legislation that's in place. We're seeing drug crime going down in our province. We're seeing property crime going down, violent crime going down," the premier said.

"Yes, there are issues with what happened this week which are unacceptable and the minister recognizes that. He came out right away to deal with it and I stand by him."

The Liberals have been demanding that MacDonald replace Clarke, saying the justice minister has had ample opportunity to fix the problems in his department that led to this gaffe.

NDP justice critic Bill Estabrooks said when a cabinet minister offers his resignation, it's a sign he has lost confidence in himself and should be replaced.

"When you offer your resignation, you're looking at yourself in the mirror and saying, 'Am I doing the right job? Am I doing the job?' In that situation his resignation should have been accepted, in my opinion," Estabrooks said.

Estabrooks said he believes the problem is understaffing and overwork, though the justice minister maintains there is an adequate number of workers and they are being given all the training they need.

Early Wednesday evening, Clarke held a hastily arranged news conference to explain that a prisoner was released in error after a court appearance in Halifax on Tuesday.

Ryan Jessop, 22, of Dartmouth was supposed to go back to jail to await another court appearance to face charges of breaking and entering, possession of a weapon, uttering threats and extortion.

Paperwork problem

Justice officials said a form wasn't filled out properly, allowing Jessop to leave. He remained at large as of Thursday afternoon.

Clarke called it "completely unacceptable." He said his department was taking immediate action to record phone calls among jail staff regarding the transfer of prisoners, and a senior staffer would oversee the process.

It was the second time in only two days that Clarke was on the hot seat about the mistaken release of someone in custody.

Last week, a 19-year-old robbery suspect was let go after a court appearance instead of being sent back to the jail in Dartmouth. The error was discovered on Monday.

Chancelor Faulkner was arrested Wednesday and is now behind bars.

Since December 2007, a total of seven people in custody in Nova Scotia have been mistakenly released.