For seventeen years, small-town public defender Andy Hughes has been underpaid to look after the poor, the addicted, and the unfortunate souls who constantly cycle through the courts, charged with petty crimes. Then, in the summer of 2020, he's assigned to a grotesque murder case that brings national media focus to rural Patrick County, Virginia--Alicia Benson, the wife of a wealthy businessman, is murdered in her home. The accused killer, Damian...

An accessible guide for activists, educators, and all who are interested in understanding how the prison system oppresses communities and harms individuals. The United States incarcerates more of its residents than any other nation. Though home to 5% of the global population, the United States has nearly 25% of the world's prisoners--a total of over 2 million people. This number continues to steadily rise. Over the past 40 years, the number of people...

The criminal justice system is wide ranging; from the crimes themselves and policing to the sentencing of offenders and prisons. In this Very Short Introduction Julian V. Roberts draws upon the latest research and current practices from a number of different countries around the world. Focusing on the adversarial model of justice found in common law countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, he discusses topics such...

What is the impact on freedom of speech and the press when a big corporation attempts to suppress criticism and manipulate the media?. Documentary filmmaker Fredrik Gertten found out when he debuted his previous film, BANANAS!, which portrays the struggle of 12 Nicaraguan plantation workers who brought a lawsuit challenging fruit giant Dole Food's use of a banned pesticide. Shortly after BANANAS! was selected to premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival,...

On a snowy April day at Virginia Tech in 2007, 32 students and faculty were shot and killed by a lone gunman, 17 others were wounded, and six more were injured jumping out of windows.. Through the personal story of survivor Colin Goddard, Living for 32 tells the tragic tale of one of the worst gun massacres in recent American history, along with Goddard's inspirational journey of renewal and hope. The then-21-year-old was shot four times and told...

A Mississippi mother of six sues her local school district to remove intercom prayer and Bible classes from the public schools. Christian community members rally against her to protect their time-honored tradition of religious practices in the schools. Both sides claim they are fighting for religious freedom.. In 1962 the Supreme Court ruled that school-sanctioned prayers and devotional Bible readings in public school classrooms are indisputably unconstitutional....

The fourth episode in this series looks at John Wilkes, a comparatively little-known figure today, but in mid- to late-18th century he was at the epicentre of events which shook the British Establishment and helped prepare the ground for modern civil liberties.

This documentary traces the rise of hip-hop from the urban streets of New York to its current status as a multibillion-dollar industry. COPYRIGHT CRIMINALS examines the creative and commercial value of musical sampling, including the related debates over artistic expression, copyright law, and (of course) money.. For more than thirty years, innovative hip-hop performers and producers have been re-using portions of previously recorded music in new,...

Simultaneously a murder-mystery and an exposè of endemic corruption today, GIVE UP TOMORROW looks intimately at the case of Paco Larrañaga, a student accused of killing two sisters on the provincial island of Cebu. In a way that is both specific to the country and disquietingly universal, the film exposes a Kafkaesque extravaganza populated by flamboyantly crooked public officials, cops on the take, and a frenzied legal and media circus.. GIVE UP...