Los Angeles Valley College Library: Just Mercy resources: Multi-Media

PBS Frontline Videos

Death By Fire
Did Texas execute an innocent man? Several controversial death penalty cases are currently under examination in Texas and in other states, but it's the 2004 execution of Cameron Todd Willingham -- convicted for the arson deaths of his three young children -- that's now at the center of the national debate. With unique access to those closest to the case, FRONTLINE examines the Willingham conviction in light of new science that raises doubts about whether the fire at the center of the case was really arson at all. The film meticulously examines the evidence used to convict Willingham, provides an in-depth portrait of those most impacted by the case, and explores the explosive implications of the execution of a possibly innocent man.
Solitary Nation
A two-video series. Part one, "Solitary Nation" explores the harsh realities of solitary confinement. Part two, "Prison State," is an intimate look at the cycle of mass incarceration in America and one state's effor to reverse the trend.
The Stickup Kid
Frontline explores what happens when we lock up juvenile offenders in adult prisons. Focuses on the story of Alonza Thomas — sent to adult prison in California at age 16 — and how spending over a decade behind bars impacted him.
When Kids Get Life
The United States is one of the only countries in the world that allows children under 18 to be sentenced to life without parole. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International report that more than 2,000 inmates are currently serving life without parole in the United States for crimes committed when they were juveniles; in the rest of the world, there are only 12 juveniles serving the same sentence. Frontline producer Ofra Bikel travels to Colorado to profile five individuals sentenced to life without parole as juveniles.

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The Film

Watch the film adaptation of the book on Swank.

Learn more about Bryan Stevenson in True Justice (available via Kanopy). This feature documentary follows Stevenson - lawyer and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative - through his experiences as a capital defense attorney and advocate for community-based reform.

Other Films and Streaming Media

The Talk - Race in America
THE TALK is a two-hour documentary about the increasingly necessary conversation taking place in homes and communities across the country between parents of color and their children, especially sons, about how to behave if they are ever stopped by the police. PBS, February 2017.

Slavery By Another Name

Slavery by Another Name “resets” our national clock with a singular astonishing fact: Slavery in America didn’t end 150 years ago, with Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation. Based on Douglas A. Blackmon’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book, the film illuminates how in the years following the Civil War, insidious new forms of forced labor emerged in the American South, persisting until the onset of World War II. Full-length movie.

Coming Straight Home From Solitary Damages Inmates and Their Families

Audio Podcast: NPR investigates the effects of solitary confinement on individuals who have been released from prison and their families. Audio, 6:18.

John Oliver discusses the Death Penalty on HBO (Strong Language)

Published on May 4, 2014 - 12:19 length

Can the death penalty be executed humanely? Should we even be implementing it at all? Why are we talking about this on a comedy show?