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Give “Criminal” a watch.
The New Yorker Documentary
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From the surface, the Harris County Jail could be mistaken for an upscale apartment complex, with walls comprised of windows that look onto the bayou in the center of Houston. However, the windows are inauthentic, and the prisoners inside—the majority of whom are awaiting their day in court—encounter alarming situations. “Criminal” employs music and lyrics crafted by Stew Stewart and Heidi Rodewald, the Tony Award-winning artists; animation by Thomas Curtis, who was behind bars for eleven years; accounts from law advocates; and snippets of letters penned by prisoners to fashion a dreadful depiction of the reality within the criminal-justice framework. It emphasizes, in particular, the function of the cash-bail structure, which compels individuals accused of a crime to await their trial while in custody if they lack the funds to pay—at times for months, and perhaps years. In documented footage of actual bail hearings, judges appear severe and offhand, even when defendants inquire about the legal terminology being implemented to determine their fate. Alec Karakatsanis, from the Civil Rights Corps, states, “There exists no assumption of innocence in practice within the American legal system, if you are impoverished.” Roughly eight thousand persons are kept in the Harris County Jail, existing in severe circumstances that some contend constitute inhumane and extraordinary punishment. A significant portion hasn’t been afforded the opportunity to undergo trial.
Sourse: newyorker.com
