Ashley Smith Out of Control (2010) - the fifth estate
- last year
The Fifth Estate documentary series exposes the cracks in the Canadian prison system in Ashley Smith: Out of Control, a harrowing and provocative investigation into the unfortunate death of a young inmate.
Smith was adopted shortly after her birth. Her home was like that of any traditional loving family. Her behavioral problems began with the onset of puberty, and were marked by episodes of defiance and poor school performance. After pelting a mailman with crabapples, she was incarcerated for assaulting a public employee. What was designed to be a short sentence stretched into a number of years and multiple institutions. Her journey eventually concluded with her tragic suicide inside Grand Valley Institution in Kitchener, Ontario.
The centerpiece of the film is never-before-seen surveillance footage that shows Smith undergoing a string of physical punishments at the hands of prison guards, including painful dousings of pepper spray, 23 hours a day in solitary confinement, a lack of adequate toiletries, and barbaric constraint.
Smith was adopted shortly after her birth. Her home was like that of any traditional loving family. Her behavioral problems began with the onset of puberty, and were marked by episodes of defiance and poor school performance. After pelting a mailman with crabapples, she was incarcerated for assaulting a public employee. What was designed to be a short sentence stretched into a number of years and multiple institutions. Her journey eventually concluded with her tragic suicide inside Grand Valley Institution in Kitchener, Ontario.
The centerpiece of the film is never-before-seen surveillance footage that shows Smith undergoing a string of physical punishments at the hands of prison guards, including painful dousings of pepper spray, 23 hours a day in solitary confinement, a lack of adequate toiletries, and barbaric constraint.