FROM THE DEALER TO
THE NARCOTICS OFFICER,
THE INMATE TO THE
FEDERAL JUDGE, A
PENETRATING LOOK
INSIDE AMERICA'S
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
SYSTEM, REVEALING THE
PROFOUND HUMAN
RIGHTS IMPLICATIONS OF
U.S. DRUG POLICY.
EUGENE JARECKI ---FILMMAKER
Eugene Jarecki is an Emmy
and Peabody award-winning
director of dramatic and
documentary subjects who
has twice won the Grand Jury
Prize at the Sundance Film
Festival, first in 2005 for Why
We Fight and again in 2012
for The House I live In.
I. HOW ARE YOU FEELING? (PSYCHO- EMOTIONAL)
• Write down 1-3 words only on how you FEEL
• Identify an object (or draw an image) that expresses your
EMOTION. Briefly share why you chose that word(s) and
object.
• Who or what could you most identify or empathize with in the
film?
• Who or what were you most unable to connect to?
“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than
the way in which it treats its children.” ---President Nelson
Mandela
II. WHAT ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT THE SYSTEM (SOCIOLOGICAL)
•
What information about the War on Drugs in this film was most revealing to you?
•
What does this film tell you about how the criminal justice system operates, particularly
towards privatization?
•
What does this film tell you about people who use drugs and why they use them?
•
What does this film tell you about the negative impact of the War on Drugs on
communities?
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr: “A true revolution of values will soon cause us to
question fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies…True
compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and
superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs
restructuring.”
THE FOLLOWING FAITH PRINCIPLES OR IDEAS, AROUND WHICH THERE ARE
MANY SACRED NARRATIVES, ARE SUGGESTED BY THE FILM.
Forgiveness Healing
Punishment
Justice
Love
Mercy
Redemption ReconciliationSin
Violence
Murder
III. WHAT BASIC BELIEFS AND UNDERSTANDING HELP
US MOVE FORWARD? (FAITH)
• How does your personal understanding of these ideas help you
address the issues related to the War on drugs or mass incarceration
in the United States?
• How does your faith help you address the issues related to the War on
Drugs or mass incarceration in the United States?
• What are the implications of the War on Drugs and rates of
incarceration in the United States for the ELCA ,the Church Universal
and/or the Ecumenical community?
IV. HOW DO WE BEGIN THE QUEST FOR JUSTICE? (NEXT STEPS)
• Where do we go from here?
• What can we do?
• How do we begin the journey?
ELCA CRIMINAL JUSTICE SOCIAL STATEMENT
• Task Force formed in response to Synods
• “Hearing the Cries” Congregational Study Guide
• (4) Hearing the Cries, Accompaniment, Hospitality & Advocacy
• Social Statement Draft & Synod Hearings
• Social Statement Document prepared for CWA 2013
The ELCA affirms the fundamental principles of the U.S. criminal justice system
such as due process of law and the presumption of legal innocence, the draft
also recognizes serious deficiencies –overly harsh sentencing and persistent
inequalities based on race and class. ---ELCA News Service , March 15, 2012
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
The New Jim Crow in Texas: Towards a New Consensus on Justice May 14, 3013
King of Glory Lutheran Church Dallas
PBS-Frontline Drug War Series
Drug Policy Alliance
The House I Live In Organization (www.thehosueilivein.org)
2012 UMC Divests 1 Million from CCA & GEO Group
To Be Free At Last ( www.2befreeatlast.net)