Canadian enquiry studies death of teen inmate..

An inquest into the death of a teenage Canadian prison inmate has opened in Toronto, where coroners are examining video footage of the 19-year-old woman being hooded, manhandled, bound with parcel tape and forcibly injected with anti-psychotic drugs.

Observers say it is Canada's prison system which is on trial, after the footage was finally released late on Wednesday, following a five-year legal battle to bring the videos into the open.

Ashley Smith was 14 years old when she threw crab apples at a postman, an offence which landed her in a youth facility for a month - a sentence which was constantly extended due to her disruptive and occasional violent behaviour.

After nearly four years of incarceration, the teenager from New Brunswick killed herself in October 2007 - despite being placed under formal suicide watch by the institution where she was held.

Smith was transferred 17 times to 11 different prisons within the final year of her life, spending most of that time in solitary confinement. Prisoners kept in isolation are subject to review after 60 days; the transfers prevented such reviews from taking place.

Canadian prison lawyers argue that coroners should only examine the final week of her life. Widening the scope to cover the treatment Smith received in the previous months and years would turn the inquest into a "full-blown inquiry into the operations and management of Correctional Service Canada, which is not permitted".

One of the videos released to the public, over the objections of the Correctional Service, shows Smith being hooded and shackled to a seat while on a transfer flight. Guards refuse to let her use the bathroom while she appears to sit in her own feces.

Minutes later in that video, a co-pilot instructs guards in binding her wrists together with duct tape, threatening to tape her face

This is shocking, Is Canada really turning to be like the USA. After getting arrested for throwing apples at a post man..really Canada?? is that such a crime.. She was 14, what ever happened to "Kids will be kids.." This is just horrible. Than, they beat her and give her drugs, and tape her hands ona plane and let her "stay" in her own feces.. That is just gross, I would be also very pissed off, and on top of that It's Illegal to do so.. What is happening to our wonderful country???

There is also a Video in the source link, it's a little shocking, and Inhumane.


Source

This is just plain disgusting. She never should've been held for so long, to begin with, and any idiot knows that the longer someone is kept in solitary confinement, the better the chance of a psychotic break, which would be hugely multiplied by the fact that this was a CHILD, not an adult.
And why isn't it allowed to do an inquest into Canada's penal system? Are there some sort of laws against doing so? Or are they afraid of the egg on their faces when all the abuses come to light, and are just attempting to bully others into doing what they want, like they obviously do to their prisoners?
And, yes I know this isn't just a problem in Canada, but here in the USA also. It's a sad situation indeed.

I saw bits of the video on the news this morning. It's little wonder the RCMP didn't want it released.
NO inmate should ever have had to undergo the brutal treatment she endured.
Their claim is that during her incarceration her mental state prompted them to use force.
BS
You transfer her to CAMH if you can't handle her.
I was appalled to say the least.
All this started because she threw crab-apples at a postal worker?

reply to post by AccessDenied


Yea really all just from throwing crab apples at a postal worker...I've done way worse things in my life as a kid, i never went to jail or anything.. it's just sad they treated her like a psychotic killer or something, i feel bad for her and her family.. I still can't believe it's all cause of freakin' tiny crab apples...Sad world we live in now a days.

this is not surprising to me anymore. After hearing and reading about the G20, this is on par for our law enforcers. inexcusable, but what the heck can the ordinary citizen do? call and make a formal complaint to the corrupt and underbudgeted (haha) police force?

That's what happens. Kids get in trouble, get put on probation and are then, 'in the system'. Once they are in it, it;s hard to get out, especially considering lack of and/or poor parenting that causes most of them their problems in the first place. I hope they get to the bottom of this.