Watch The Injustice System in America

The Injustice System in America is a 2007 documentary film that explores the flawed criminal justice system in the United States. The film highlights how this system often discriminates against minorities and results in wrongful convictions and excessive sentencing. The documentary features prominent civil rights activists and lawyers, including Jeff Adachi, Van Jones, Michelle Alexander, and Vernell Critendon. Through interviews and real-life examples, these experts shed light on the systemic problems within America's criminal justice system.

The film starts by outlining the various ways in which the judicial system in America is biased against minorities. It highlights the statistics that show African Americans and Latinos are far more likely to be arrested, prosecuted, and sentenced harshly compared to their white counterparts. The film argues that this systemic racism has resulted in a system that is fundamentally unjust.

The Injustice System discusses how prosecutors often abuse plea bargaining to secure convictions against innocent people. Prosecutors will offer plea deals that require defendants to plead guilty to a lesser charge than the one they are accused of. This practice is threatening to a defendant who is innocent because pleading guilty to any charge is a form of conceding wrongdoing. Nevertheless, without striking a plea deal, the defendant may be confronted with a harsher conviction and longer prison terms. The film discusses how this practice often leads to wrongful convictions because defendants agree to plead guilty due to the sheer pressure of the prosecutor's offer.

The film also focuses on the case of Genarlow Wilson, a Georgia high school student who received a ten-year sentence and was placed on the sex offender registry for consensual sexual activity with a fifteen-year-old classmate. The film details how Wilson's sentence was disproportionate and highlights how he was eventually granted clemency by the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles after a public outcry.

The Injustice System also examines how the private prison industry and its lobbyists have been able to influence laws and policies that increase the number of people incarcerated. This has created a for-profit system that financially benefits from increased incarceration rates. This reality makes it harder to reduce the number of people sent to prison since it would hurt the profits of private prison contractors.

The film contends that America's criminal justice system is not only unjust but also expensive. It argues that reducing the number of people incarcerated could save taxpayers billions of dollars every year. Instead of making communities safer or rehabilitating offenders, the prison system tends to do the opposite by reinforcing violent practices that contribute to the rise in recidivism.

In conclusion, The Injustice System in America is a hard-hitting documentary that exposes the deep-rooted prejudice that exists in America's criminal justice system. The film provides vital insight into the practices of the system's enforcement and encourages us to think critically about what reforms are needed to make this system more just.

The Injustice System in America is a 2006 documentary with a runtime of 1 hour and 22 minutes. It has received mostly positive reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 6.5.