Product Description:
#32849 Legal Issues - E-mail Alert: How E-mail Becomes E-evidence (Run time 10 min.) DVD $49.95
Every day, hundreds of millions of e-mails are sent, answered, and forwarded. This immense volume, combined with the candor that so pervades the medium, has stirred up trouble for computer-users at every level-even Bill Gates himself. In this program, Internet legal expert Dr. Michael Geist, computer forensics specialists, and others explain how deleted e-mails are retrieved and how those indiscreet bits of e-evidence are influencing litigation and causing consternation for companies throughout North America. The bottom line? Think before you hit "send"-or, failing that, hire the best lawyer you can afford. (10 minutes)
#5894 Legal Process & The Courts - Trial Consultants: Stacking Juries or Keeping Trials Fair? (Run time 14 min.) DVD $49.95
This program explores the increasing use of trial consultants, who are now a multimillion-dollar industry in the U.S. Featured in the program are Jane Murdoch-Miller, who literally transforms defendants to give them whole new looks, accentuating good points, and hiding potential bad points like tattoos, and Jo-Ellen Demetrius, who has achieved celebrity status by helping to select the jury that acquitted the policemen in the Rodney King case. Demetrius also helped shape the jury on the O.J. Simpson case, exhaustively researching potential jurors and conducting mock trials to see which type of jurors would acquit O.J. "Eighty percent of people who enter court believe your client is guilty because he's been arrested," says Demetrius. "So my job is to try to level it up to an even playing field." (14 minutes)
#29111 Legal Issues - Packing Heat: The Debate Over Concealed Weapons (Run time 16 min.) DVD $69.95
Carrying a concealed weapon is legal in 44 states, but does such legislation act as a deterrent to would-be criminals or does it turn simple arguments into potentially deadly ones? In this program, ABC News correspondent Cynthia McFadden explores the issue by looking at the case of a taxi driver in Texas who shot and killed two men he claimed were trying to kill him. The level of scrutiny in background checks for permit applicants is one of the topic's crucial complexities. (15 minutes)
#33264 Legal Issues - Inside the Interrogation Room (Run time 19 min.) DVD $69.95
How could a person who did not commit a crime sign a confession that could ruin their life? This program goes inside the interrogation room to reveal the hidden techniques police use to wring confessions from the guilty-and sometimes from the innocent as well. The program weighs the pros and cons of the Reid technique of interviewing and interrogation by using footage of actual interrogations from a highly publicized case along with commentary from criminal lawyers, police experts, and individuals in the case who were coerced into signing confessions and later fully exonerated. (19 minutes)
#10783 Legal Process & The Courts - Trial by Jury (Run time 35 min.) DVD $79.95
Every year there are approximately 120,000 jury trials in the United States. The right to trial by jury is guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution. This video explores the origins of the jury trial, explains the jury's crucial role in our judicial system, and introduces students to the courtroom and the process of a trial. The program is divided into the following sections: The History of Jury Trials; What Trial Juries Do; Who's Who in the Courtroom; Qualifications for Jury Service; What Happens During a Trial; Alternatives to Jury Trials; The Grand Jury; and Pros and Cons of Jury Trials.Combining courtroom scenes, archival footage, and interviews, the video provides a valuable introduction to the basics of the U.S. system of justice. Key subjects include: historical antecedents such as trial by combat and trial by ordeal; an overview of the constitutional guarantees to jury trial; the role of juries in criminal and civil cases; the process of jury selection; jury deliberations and verdicts; and the future of jury trials.A Cambridge Educational Production. One 35-minute video.
#11901 Legal Process & The Courts - It's the Law (Run time 30 min.) DVD $79.95
The laws of the criminal justice system are primarily framed by the Constitution, which sets the standards of due process. In this program, lawyers, prosecutors, and judges explain the differences between misdemeanors and felonies, the various degrees of crimes, and the elements of a crime. Investigation procedures in the gathering of evidence and statements are discussed. Legal experts and police officers clearly illustrate such concepts as 5th Amendment rights, Miranda warnings, the "stop and frisk" rule, search warrants, and the "knock and announce" rule. Probable cause and arrest procedures are also demonstrated. A Cambridge Educational Production. (30 minutes)
#11902 Legal Process & The Courts - Order in the Court (Run time 28 min.) DVD $79.95
In this program, various legal experts explain pretrial and trial procedures, pointing out along the way differences in juvenile proceedings. Judges and lawyers navigate the pretrial process, beginning with the establishment of probable cause and formal charging by grand jury. Indictment, pretrial release, bail, and arraignment are also discussed. Such concepts as an alibi, burden of proof, and reasonable doubt are clearly explained. Finally, a panel of experts comments on a sentencing hearing and punishment, along with the defendant's constitutional right to appeal. A Cambridge Educational Production. (28 minutes)
#4381 Legal Issues - The Right to Protect Yourself (Run time 26 min.) DVD $89.95
If someone breaks into your home and you are there and have a gun, do you have the right to shoot the intruder? If you are at work and someone appears ready to do you bodily harm, will you be prosecuted if you use a gun to defend yourself? This program re-enacts actual police cases of people who had to decide on the spot whether to shoot, and whether they were within their rights to do so. One case involves a rural store owner confronted by a man who attempted to kidnap and rob him; in another, an armed robber opened fire in a crowded bar and the owner had a split second to decide whether to fire back; in another, a woman whose drunken neighbor broke in and threatened to rape her was able to escape long enough to get her gun. (26 minutes)
#4954 Legal Issues - Abortion and Divorce in Western Law: Mary Ann Glendon (Run time 30 min.) DVD $89.95
All laws tell stories, says Harvard law professor Mary Ann Glendon-stories about who we are, where we came from, where we are going, and what we value. Can Americans learn something from the abortion and divorce laws of other countries? Glendon says we have a lot to learn, and that it may surprise us. Glendon, whose field is comparative law, found her own assumptions challenged when she started the research for her prize-winning book, Abortion and Divorce in Western Law, which contrasts the legal practices of Europe and America as they bear on the difficult choices of these controversial issues. In this program with Bill Moyers, Glendon talks about family issues on both sides of the Atlantic. (30 minutes)
#9225 Legal Issues - Under the Gun: Whose Right? Whose Responsibility? (Run time 41 min.) DVD $89.95
As the death toll mounts in high schools and neighborhoods, America urgently needs to balance Second Amendment rights with gun-related youth violence. In part one of this program, ABC News anchor Ted Koppel and correspondent David Turecamo consider the badlands of Philadelphia, where hundreds of teens and young adults are killed or maimed each year by easily purchased but illegally owned handguns. In part two, Koppel and Turecamo consider the predicament of gun manufacturers, who claim that any legislative restrictions will hamper how they market their products to law-abiding citizens. Can lawmakers, manufacturers, and partisan lobbies stop fighting each other long enough to attack the roots of gun violence together? Contains harsh language. (41 minutes)
#29420 Legal Issues - Watch What You Say: Free Speech in Times of National Crisis (Run time 43 min.) DVD $89.95
In America, freedom of speech is a cherished fundamental right. Must it be curtailed during emergencies or wars? In this program, ABC News anchor Ted Koppel and correspondent John Donvan explore the penalties of political dissent in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. News footage and a round table discussion with media personalities, journalists, and others who have suffered the consequences of voicing unpopular opinions reveal a disturbing yet unsurprising intolerance for such comments during a period of national crisis. (44 minutes)
#30829 Legal Issues - Cocaine Wars (Run time 22 min.) DVD $89.95
It takes 500 grams of powder cocaine to receive the same sentence that is meted out for possession of only five grams of crack cocaine. Yet five grams of crack is a user's dose, while 500 grams of cocaine is a dealer's supply. Why a 100-to-1 disparity? In this program, ABC News anchor Ted Koppel and correspondent Don Dahler explore how the panic inspired by crack cocaine in the 1980s has left a legacy of crowded jails with overwhelmingly African-American populations. Twenty years after crack was declared a menace to society, should lawmakers and courts reassess the penalties for this drug? (22 minutes)
#33343 Legal Issues - Facing Up to Illegal Immigration (Run time 23 min.) DVD $89.95
Is there a way, once and for all, to stop illegal immigrants at America's borders? And if there is, will the world's only superpower be able to function without them? This ABC News program takes a balanced look at the illegal immigration situation in the U.S., addressing issues such as the liability of porous borders in a time of terrorism and the vital role-like it or not-of undocumented aliens in the workforce. Are they really taking jobs away from U.S. citizens, or are they simply doing the work that Americans themselves are unwilling to do? (23 minutes)
#35065 Legal Issues - After the Rape: Mukhtar Mai Seeking Justice in Pakistan (Run time 23 min.) DVD $89.95
Mukhtar Mai was gang-raped, but it wasn't considered a crime; it was a sentence handed down by a Pakistani tribal council-a punishment for the alleged indiscretions of her younger brother. This ABC News program confronts the council's decision, a ruling declared an outrage by a local imam and others, while introducing the courageous woman who chose to defy custom and fight for justice in the Pakistani courts. Includes commentary by Akbar Ahmed, the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies and professor of international relations at American University in Washington, D.C. (22 minutes)
#4259 Legal Process & The Courts - Marbury v. Madison (Run time 30 min.) DVD $89.95
Who determines what the Constitution means: the Supreme Court, Congress, or the President? This 1803 case established the judiciary's authority to interpret the Constitution. Marshall's insistence on the principle of "judicial review" of acts of Congress brought him into conflict with President Thomas Jefferson, but established the court's responsibility. (30 minutes)
#4260 Legal Process & The Courts - McCulloch v. Maryland (Run time 30 min.) DVD $89.95
How has the Supreme Court reinforced the Constitution's requirement for a strong federal government? Can the states interfere with or tax the legitimate activities of the federal government? This unpopular decision dealt a blow to states' rights by reaffirming the validity of the federal government to charter a bank (in Maryland) and striking down the state's attempts to tax this federally established institution. (30 minutes)
#4261 Legal Process & The Courts - Gibbons v. Ogden (Run time 30 min.) DVD $89.95
Does the Constitution give the states or Congress the right to regulate commerce? In 1818, a steamboat was ordered to leave New York waters because it had no license to operate within the state. In this case, the Marshall court ruled that the federal government did have the power to regulate commerce and in so doing laid the foundation for a unified American common market. (30 minutes)
#4262 Legal Process & The Courts - United States v. Aaron Burr: The Trial of Aaron Burr, part 1 (Run time 30 min.) DVD $89.95
The only case in this series not decided by the Supreme Court, this John Marshall decision was handed down in Federal Circuit Court in Richmond, Virginia, in 1807. Once again, it placed the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in direct opposition to President Thomas Jefferson. Former Vice President Aaron Burr was being tried for treason; although the evidence against Burr was tenuous, Jefferson, in an address to Congress, had declared him guilty. The three-way struggle between Marshall, Jefferson, and Burr produced dramatic results: a precedent was set for limiting executive privilege; the right of unpopular defendants to a fair trial was established; the constitutional definition of treason was upheld; and Chief Justice Marshall was hanged in effigy. This is the first of a three-part program. (30 minutes)
#4263 Legal Process & The Courts - The Trial of Aaron Burr, part 2 (Run time 30 min.) DVD $89.95
The second part of United States v. Burr. (30 minutes)
#4264 Legal Process & The Courts - The Trial of Aaron Burr, part 3 (Run time 30 min.) DVD $89.95
The conclusion of United States v. Burr. (30 minutes)
#4899 Legal Process & The Courts - Attorney General Janet Reno (Run time 60 min.) DVD $89.95
U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, straight talking and controversial, has become one of the "stars" of the Clinton cabinet. In this program with Bill Moyers, she discusses gun control, the death penalty, preventive programs for young children, prison sentences, appointing justices without any "litmus tests," the role of government in working with communities to help solve local problems, and using the National Guard to reinforce the local police. She argues that the strengths of love and family are the best preventive measure against delinquency, but urges that government become involved in social programs to help "re-weave the fabric of society." (60 minutes)
#5033 Legal Process & The Courts - And Justice for All? (Run time 60 min.) DVD $89.95
This program with Bill Moyers examines the crisis within the American court system. In many parts of the country, funding for already burdened and backlogged courts is being reduced. And public defenders and legal aid attorneys are in short supply, leaving the poor without adequate or timely representation. Yet, few politicians have stepped forward with solutions. In this program, a panel of judges discuss a variety of potential remedies for this national crisis. (60 minutes)
#5220 Legal Process & The Courts - Alan Dershowitz: A Portrait in the First Person (Run time 24 min.) DVD $89.95
Attorney, teacher, author-also gadfly and loudmouth-Alan Dershowitz says he has long since stopped trying to make a good impression, preferring to stand up for what he believes is right. Here he discusses why he became a lawyer; the flaws in our legal system; and the effective use of lawyers, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and judges. (24 minutes)
#5944 Legal Process & The Courts - Juries on Trial (Run time 23 min.) DVD $89.95
Is America's jury system fair? In light of the O.J. Simpson trial, this program asks if it isn't time to reevaluate trial by jury. Is a unanimous vote for conviction the best way to get justice? Has the O.J. Simpson trial eroded confidence in the jury system? Experts featured on this program are Judge Robert Bork of the American Enterprise Institute, Fred Cate from the University of Indiana, Lani Guinier of the University of Pennsylvania and author of the book Tyranny of the Majority, and Paul Rothstein of Georgetown University. (23 minutes)
#6385 Legal Process & The Courts - Lawyers on Trial (Run time 29 min.) DVD $89.95
The occupation of lawyer used to command immediate respect and trust in our society. Today, however, the profession has come under suspicion and is the butt of many jokes. Is the lure of financial reward and legal competition distorting the practice of law? Has greed overtaken the quest for fairness? How can the legal profession regulate its behavior? This program addresses these and other questions about the role and integrity of lawyers in our society with Roberta Cooper Ramo, President of the American Bar Association; Anthony Kronman, Dean of the Yale Law School; and Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. (29 minutes)
#8584 Legal Process & The Courts - The Limits of Justice (Run time 58 min.) DVD $89.95
When a juvenile gang stormed a Boston church during the funeral of a rival gang member, local community leaders and law enforcement officials decided that it was time to cooperate with each other and make a change. Parole officers and police personnel aggressively patrol the streets as a team, to enforce probation and deter violence; streetwise mentors partner with at-risk youth, helping them to deal with the police, the courts, and life in general; and organizations like the Log School and the Community Academy provide education, day care, job training, and food. This program documents the remarkable effectiveness of these alliances, which for two years have helped to totally eliminate juvenile homicide in Boston. (58 minutes)
#8585 Legal Process & The Courts - Young, Armed, and Dangerous (Run time 58 min.) DVD $89.95
This program investigates the way that Fort Worth is trying to deter young offenders from a life of crime and a lifetime of prison by focusing on the social, economic, and psychological causes of violence. Mentors provided by the Tarrant County Advocate Program for offenders on probation are achieving noteworthy successes. The Capital Offenders Program, which offers group resocialization therapy to help offenders deal with the roots of their aggression, has substantially reduced recidivism rates among participating youth. Another program, as daring as it is progressive, brings convicts and victims face-to-face, to confront the impact and consequences of their violent crimes. The best way to reduce crime may simply be to replace despair with hope-and a vision of a future worth living. (58 minutes)
#8586 Legal Process & The Courts - Catching Them Early (Run time 58 min.) DVD $89.95
In Richmond, California, gang violence, drug abuse, and teen pregnancy are daily realities for at-risk youth. But this cycle of despair is being broken by a coalition of community agencies formed to intervene on a day-to-day, one-on-one basis. In this program, the methods and results of Lincoln Elementary School and its Lion Club, Familias Unidas, Child Haven, and Head Start are examined. Together, their mission is to provide wholesome activities that build confidence and cultural identity, demonstrate models for conflict resolution, show teen parents how to take care of their children, teach life skills, and, above all, offer love and emotional support so that the children and teenagers can learn to live better lives. (58 minutes)
#11903 Legal Process & The Courts - Punishing Parents: Who Is Responsible for Delinquent Kids? (Run time 38 min.) DVD $89.95
In the eyes of the law, how wide are the parameters of parental responsibility? And how aware are parents and teachers of what goes on when they are not around? In this program, ABC News correspondent John Stossel gathers opinions in the heated debate over accountability for a child's delinquent actions by talking with parents, children, survivors, and the judges who are handing down rulings on where exactly to place the blame. Suits against parents for alleged criminal negligence in cases of school shootings, underage drinking and drug use, DWI-related deaths involving minors, and acts of vandalism are addressed. Indecent behavior on and off school grounds is also discussed. (38 minutes)
#12042 Legal Process & The Courts - Insanity in the Courtroom: Mental Illness and the Search for Justice (Run time 23 min.) DVD $89.95
If a person is deemed mentally unfit to stand trial for a capital crime, should the state be allowed to administer drugs so the person is healthy enough to be tried and sentenced to death? In this program, ABC News correspondent Chris Bury reports on this legal paradox in the case of Russell Weston, a paranoid schizophrenic who allegedly killed two policemen in 1998 and whose lawyers have kept him from medication. The issue is debated by a panel of experts including retired circuit court judge Vincent Femia, forensic psychologist Barbara Kirwin, George Mason University legal scholar Paul Stavis, former federal prosecutor Christopher Tayback, and the defense attorney for Long Island Rail Road shooter Colin Ferguson, Ron Kuby. (23 minutes)
#30087 Legal Process & The Courts - Race on Trial (Run time 23 min.) DVD $89.95
Does the American justice system treat people differently based on their race? In this ABC News program, correspondent Michel Martin reports on the startlingly disparate outcomes of two almost-identical drug-related cases tried one after another in a Boston court. In one case, the judge sentenced an African-American defendant with no prior record to prison time on the insistence of the prosecution. In the other case, the prosecution asked for a sentence of drug rehabilitation as opposed to prison time for a white defendant with prior convictions. This provocative program offers a timely assessment of an unfortunately recurring problem in American courtrooms. (23 minutes)
#31053 Legal Process & The Courts - Order in the Court: Judge Joe Brown (Run time 22 min.) DVD $89.95
As a criminal court judge in Memphis, Tennessee, Joe Brown introduced a new way of sentencing first-time nonviolent offenders, with astonishing results. Now, as the star of the reality courtroom show Judge Joe Brown, he reaches a much larger audience with his message of order, justice, and personal responsibility. This ABC News program captures the charismatic Judge Brown as he talks with correspondent Dave Marash about how he came to be the deeply caring yet no-nonsense jurist he is. (21 minutes)
#33192 Legal Process & The Courts - Supreme Court Justices: Sandra Day O'Connor and Stephen Breyer (Run time 27 min.) DVD $89.95
In this ABC News program, George Stephanopoulos conducts an exclusive interview with two sitting justices of the U.S. Supreme Court: Sandra Day O'Connor and Stephen Breyer. Ranging freely over a number of topics, they share their views on the durable yet flexible nature of the Constitution; interpretation of the Constitution within the context of an ever-evolving society in an increasingly complex world; aspects of the judicial decision-making process, including coping with differences of opinion and the value of diversity on the bench; the benefits and drawbacks of transparency; and the tension, at different times in America's history, between liberty and national security. (27 minutes)
#39265 Legal Process & The Courts - Public Safety, Law, and Security (Run time min.) DVD $89.95
The U.S. Department of Labor predicts a 29 percent jump in criminal justice-related positions within the next few years! This program introduces eight individuals who help protect others in very different ways: a patrol officer, a firefighter, and a paramedic, careers on the front lines of public safety; a forensic specialist, a paralegal, and a legal assistant, behind-the-scenes careers in the legal profession; and a private security specialist and a corrections officer, careers that involve keeping businesses secure and convicts in custody. Correlates to all applicable National and State Educational Standards including the NCLB Act. A viewable/printable instructor's guide is available online. A Cambridge Educational Production. (25 minutes) Available beginning February 2009.
#33592 Legal Issues - Three Strikes: Helpful or Hurtful? (Run time 22 min.) DVD $99.95
Have the so-called "three strikes" laws struck out themselves? Legislators initially thought such a clear-cut ultimatum would dissuade criminals from continuing to break the law. But that has not been the case. Since these rules went on the books, the resultant overcrowded prisons, judges with restricted discretion, and lack of adequate treatment for drug offenders have prompted a raging debate over the effectiveness of the edicts. This ABC News program investigates whether "three strikes" is helpful or hurtful by highlighting one woman's case in California, and Alabama's attempt to cope with an escalating prison population. (22 minutes)
#7160 Legal Issues - Personal Safety (Run time 48 min.) DVD $129.95
Learn how to keep yourself safe from personal harm. Experts demonstrate three effective self-defense moves, how to react if you are approached by someone on the street, and what to do if you are being stalked. Learn how to recognize risk and become aware of your surroundings. Discover how appearing alert can ward off a potential attack. This program provides an excellent starting point for discussions on how to avoid becoming a victim in today's often violent society. (48 minutes)
#7161 Legal Issues - Safe at Home (Run time 48 min.) DVD $129.95
The crime of breaking and entering is becoming commonplace in our communities. With the assistance of law-enforcement personnel, this program explains how to guard a home against break-ins. Specific topics include how thieves break in, what to do if it happens to you, how to safeguard your home and property, and how communities are cooperating to prevent burglaries. A security checklist allows viewers to rate their homes for safety. Convicted burglars reveal what deters them most. (48 minutes)
#9227 Legal Issues - Executing the Mentally Ill (Run time 22 min.) DVD $129.95
How sane must a convict be to face execution? And is justice served if medicine is forcibly administered so that a convict is sane enough to face the death penalty? The cases of Death Row inmates Horace Kelly and Charles Singleton have severely tried the practical and moral boundaries of capital punishment. In this program, ABC News anchor Forrest Sawyer; Richard Mazer, defense counsel for Kelly; Dr. Paul Applebaum, director of the law and psychiatry program at the University of Massachusetts Medical School; and law professor Christopher Slobogin analyze the Kelly and Singleton cases, discussing the legal and ethical implications of the pivotal terms "awareness" and "competence." (22 minutes)
#9370 Legal Issues - Racial Profiling and Law Enforcement: America in Black and White (Run time 41 min.) DVD $129.95
DWB: Driving While Black. For many African-Americans, simply having dark skin seems to be grounds for being pulled over on the highway and searched for drugs. Police call it "profiling," based on years of successful drug interdiction through traffic stops, but angry and humiliated victims call it "racial profiling"-a blatant form of discrimination-and want it stopped. In part one of this program, ABC News anchor Ted Koppel and correspondent Michel McQueen investigate the issue from the victims' points of view. In part two, Koppel and McQueen look at profiling through the eyes of the police, with special commentary by law professor and former OJ Simpson prosecutor Christopher Darden. Some language may be objectionable. (41 minutes)
#33134 Legal Issues - Security Threat: Terrorism, Surveillance, and Civil Liberties (Run time 45 min.) DVD $129.95
From facial recognition systems to information-bearing implants tracked by GPS satellites, governments around the world are looking for ways to identify and apprehend terrorists. This program weighs the pros and cons of real-time profiling systems, closed circuit cameras in public places, smart ID cards, thermal imaging polygraphs, and other anti-terror technologies. How well are they working? And just how much privacy are citizens willing to relinquish in the name of security? "I think our freedoms have been curtailed considerably already," says John Perry Barlow, cofounder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, "and I don't see that we're any safer." (45 minutes)
#34615 Legal Issues - One Night in Bhopal (Run time 60 min.) DVD $129.95
The world knows too little about what happened in the Indian city of Bhopal on December 3, 1984. This program provides a chilling reconstruction of the Union Carbide methyl isocyanate disaster and details its horrific and protracted consequences. Interviews with eyewitnesses-including medical personnel, a company technician, Bhopal's police chief, and a young man orphaned by the tragedy-tell the story from the victims' perspective; but the program also argues for further scrutiny, inquiring into the disturbing failure of corporate and government authorities to provide public disclosure or adequately compensate those who suffered most. A BBCW Production. (60 minutes)
#31681 Legal Process & The Courts - Judgment Day: Should the Guilty Go Free (Run time 67 min.) DVD $129.95
Every year, hundreds of thousands of convicts appear before parole and clemency boards to plead for early release. This hard-hitting program draws viewers into the formidable decision-making process as boards in Boston, Las Vegas, and Leesville, Louisiana, grapple with harrowing cases of second-degree murder, armed robbery, and manslaughter. Compelling footage of the actual hearings, intense crime reenactments, and powerful interviews with parole and clemency board members, experts, and those most intimately touched by these violent felonies make this an educational experience not to be missed. Viewer discretion is advised. An HBO Production. (67 minutes)
#9126 Legal Issues - The Legacy: Murder and Media, Politics and Prisons (Run time 77 min.) DVD $149.95
From murders to manhunts to a win-at-all-costs political campaign, this riveting expose presents the disturbing story behind the passage of California's stringent "Three Strikes" law. Through candid interviews and news footage, Mike Reynolds and Marc Klaas-brothers-in-arms turned bitter opponents-and other key players including judges, legal analysts, and state officials illuminate both sides of this heated issue, revealing in stark terms how criminal justice policy is debated and promoted in today's media-saturated political climate-particularly in a state where more money is spent on building prisons than on education. (77 minutes)
#32079 Legal Issues - Failure to Protect? A National Dialogue (Run time 53 min.) DVD $149.95
As headlines trumpet cases of children becoming "lost"-and in some cases, dying-while in the care of the state or when the state does not act promptly to take custody, child welfare policies have come under intense questioning. But the answers are not simple. This award-winning Fred Friendly Seminar is presented in collaboration with the Institute for Child and Family Policy at Columbia University. Moderated by Dateline NBC correspondent John Hockenberry, the seminar confronts the complexities of child safety and welfare policies and their effect on American families. Panelists include Kathleen Blatz, chief justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court; Richard Gelles, dean of the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Work; Sandra Jimenez, head of advocacy for New York City's Department of Homeless Services; Marcia Robinson Lowry, executive director of the advocacy group Children's Rights, Inc.; Cynthia McFadden, ABC News senior legal correspondent; Representative George Miller (D-CA), author of the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980; and Northwestern University School of Law Professor Dorothy Roberts, author of Shattered Bonds: The Color of Child Welfare. Additional resources are located online at www.fredfriendly.org and www.pbs.org. A FRONTLINE-Fred Friendly Seminars, Inc. co-production with 10/20 Productions, LLC. (60 minutes)
#32699 Legal Issues - Liberty and Security in an Age of Terrorism (Run time 58 min.) DVD $149.95
The U.S. is on orange alert, and the citizens of Midburgh are on the lookout for "suspicious activity." What should they do when circumstantial evidence indicating a potential terrorist plot points to two people of Arab ethnicity? This Fred Friendly Seminar, produced as part of Columbia University's 250th Anniversary, explores the balance between national security and civil liberties in the post-9/11 world. Is one price of vigilance suspicion among neighbors? Do the demands of security now require broader government power to investigate and to detain? Using a hypothetical scenario, moderator Professor Michael Dorf of Columbia Law School pushes the panelists to confront these issues. Panelists include Viet Dinh, a principal architect of the USA PATRIOT Act; Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA); Lee Bollinger, president of Columbia University; James Kallstrom, Senior Advisor for Counterterrorism to Governor Pataki, State of New York; Judge Alex Kozinski, of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit; Mary Jo White, former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York; Kate Martin, director of the Center for National Security Studies; Fareed Zakaria, editor of Newsweek International; Jan Ting, professor of law at Temple University; Nadine Strossen, president of the American Civil Liberties Union; First Amendment attorney Floyd Abrams; James Gilmore, chair of the Congressional Advisory Commission on Terrorism Involving Weapons of Mass Destruction; and Jack Cloonan, former FBI case agent on Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda investigations. The panelists, who wrestle with these high-stakes questions in their daily lives, discuss the implications of the USA PATRIOT Act, surveillance of suspects, closed detention hearings, demands for student information, and just what constitutes an unlawful enemy combatant. Additional resources are located online at www.fredfriendly.org. (58 minutes)
#35071 Legal Issues - Peter Jennings Reporting-Guantanamo (Run time 43 min.) DVD $149.95
According to the Bush Administration, the war on terror requires new tactics and new thinking-including departure from the Geneva Conventions when deemed necessary. Guantanamo shows how that policy is implemented at Camp Delta, how it is vigorously defended in the name of national security, and how it is contested just as passionately on behalf of personal freedom and human rights. Reporter Peter Jennings interviews Gitmo's commanding general and former Administration insiders, shedding light on decision-making within the White House-while firsthand accounts of experiences inside the prison compose the darkest dimensions of the story. (43 minutes)
#35077 Legal Issues - Peter Jennings Reporting-From the Tobacco File (Run time 41 min.) DVD $149.95
After the high-profile tobacco lawsuits of a decade ago, many believe America's smoking problem has been addressed. But as Peter Jennings reveals in From the Tobacco File, policy makers and public health leaders have failed to capitalize on legal triumphs. In rare interviews with key players in the tobacco wars, Jennings explores what occurred behind the scenes in the industry during the 1990s, showing how close cigarette manufacturers were to complete capitulation. The tragic erosion of support for legal settlements-and for subsequent anti-smoking legislation-underscores Jennings' conclusions about one of the most pressing public health issues in America. (41 minutes)
#39531 Legal Issues - Mississippi, America: Legal Battles of the Freedom Summer (Run time min.) DVD $149.95
In the summer of 1964, a handful of Mississippi attorneys issued a nationwide call for assistance as they struggled to defend imprisoned civil rights activists. This classic documentary examines the work of local and out-of-state lawyers who answered the call. Through archival footage and riveting eyewitness accounts, the film illuminates the legal dimensions of the frontline battle for African Americans' right to vote. Interviewees include civil rights attorney William Kunstler; U.S. Congressman and former SNCC activist John Lewis (D-Georgia); National Lawyers Guild Mississippi Project director George Crockett; and Dr. Aaron Henry, former Mississippi NAACP president. (57 minutes)
#4286 Legal Process & The Courts - Guilty Until Proven Innocent: Asset Forfeiture Laws (Run time 21 min.) DVD $149.95
The concept of presumed innocence is fundamental to American justice, but this program shows how private property in Tennessee was seized on suspicion of illegal activity. Without pressing criminal charges, the case is brought in civil court and the person who has lost his cash or his car must prove his innocence. The program profiles a "typical" citizen who has come up against the asset forfeiture laws-most are minorities, too poor to pay for proper legal representation, and unlikely (whether they have committed a crime or not) ever to get their money back. The program also looks at the argument that the laws are useful in the war against drugs. (21 minutes)
#4593 Legal Process & The Courts - Plea Bargains: Dealing for Justice (Run time 26 min.) DVD $149.95
The vast majority of criminal cases end in plea bargains. No one argues that this is the most just way-only the most efficient. This program examines what happens when the deal is struck: who gets out of jail, who doesn't, and who decides what kind of deal to make. Filmed behind the scenes, deep inside the nation's criminal justice system, it presents an ugly picture that has little to do with justice. (26 minutes)
#32633 Legal Process & The Courts - Quest for Justice: Legal Services and the Poor (Run time 52 min.) DVD $149.95
Formed in 1966 as part of President Johnson's War on Poverty, Legal Services provides free legal assistance in civil matters to those who cannot afford counsel. Using New Jersey as a microcosm of the condition of the impoverished throughout America, this program highlights the crucial work of Legal Services and its basic premise: without equal access, there is no equal justice. Case studies show both the judicial and human dynamics of resolving family matters, consumer matters, housing evictions, public entitlement disputes, and welfare and Social Security issues. The program also contains interviews with state and federal judges, as well as staff members and the president of Legal Services of New Jersey, Melville D. Miller, Jr. (52 minutes)
#34162 Legal Process & The Courts - A Rape in a Small Town: The Florence Holway Story (Run time 73 min.) DVD $149.95
Raped, beaten, and sodomized in her own bed by a young assailant, 76-year-old Florence Holway turned the tables on her attacker and escaped. John LaForest was apprehended and convicted, but a technicality led to a plea bargain-accepted without Holway's consent-undercutting the potential severity of his sentence. This riveting program chronicles Holway's traumatic ordeal and her fight to right what she calls a gross miscarriage of justice. In her own words, Holway, age 89, calmly but forcefully tells about the attack, her outrage toward the criminal justice system, how she took her case to the media, her success in causing tougher rape legislation to be enacted, and her ongoing efforts to keep LaForest behind bars. An HBO Production. (73 minutes)
#37389 Legal Process & The Courts - The Roberts Court: A Nightline Special Edition (Run time 76 min.) DVD $149.95
In November of 2006, Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts sat down with ABC News legal correspondent Jan Crawford Greenburg for his first network television interview-which happened to take place before 3,600 spectators at the University of Miami. This ABC News program documents that conversation, presenting Roberts' behind-the-scenes story of his nomination and offering a glimpse of the inner workings of the U.S. Supreme Court. Chief Roberts also shares his views on the role of the Chief Justice and the importance of the Supreme Court in American society. This special edition includes Chief Roberts' informative and inspiring speech to the students. (76 minutes)
#11900 Legal Process & The Courts - Law and Order: An Inside View of the Criminal Justice System (Run time min.) DVD $159.9
The Constitution provides for an impartial criminal justice system. In this 2-part series, lawyers, prosecutors, judges, and police officers move through the entire process of jurisprudence, from investigation and arrest procedures to courtroom proceedings and sentencing. Differences applicable to juvenile law are made clear. These videos provide an excellent resource for political science or legal studies courses. A Cambridge Educational Production. 2-part series, 28-30 minutes each.
#2140 Legal Issues - Juveniles and the Death Penalty (Run time 58 min.) DVD $159.95
This extraordinary 48 Hours program visits a number of Death Row inmates who committed murder before they were 18 and talks with prosecutors, defense attorneys, and surviving family members about the kind of punishment appropriate to criminals who were juveniles when they committed their crimes. Is there a moral as well as a legal distinction? If the criminal is old enough to commit murder, is he old enough to be executed? Is society's goal deterrence? revenge? Have we lost all hope of rehabilitating the young? The convicted murderers are extraordinarily articulate as they demonstrate a range of attitudes, from regret to anomie to religious conversion. (58 minutes)
#8583 Legal Process & The Courts - In Search of Law and Order (Run time min.) DVD $269.85
This compelling three-part series unflinchingly scrutinizes youth violence and explores new methods of reducing it. Narrated by noted actor Andre Braugher and based on six years of research by criminologist and filmmaker Roger Graef, the series shows the price of crime in human terms and the results that can be achieved by grass-roots initiatives like those being used in Boston, Fort Worth, and Richmond, California. Contains harsh language. 3-part series, 58 minutes each.
#4258 Legal Process & The Courts - Equal Justice Under Law: Landmark Cases in Supreme Court History (Run time min.) DVD $539.7
The objective of this series is to clarify the role of the Supreme Court in relation to the other branches and levels of government in the U.S. by dramatizing some of the major precedents established by Chief Justice John Marshall. To a large extent, it is through his incisive interpretation of the powers-and limitations-of the Court in the landmark cases highlighted in this series, that the Supreme Court has been able to maintain the relevance of the Constitution over the last two hundred years and more. Introduced by retired Chief Justice Warren E. Burger, narrated by E. G. Marshall. 6-part series, 30 minutes each.
