Broken On All Sides/Movie Tactic #4/LandonClow

Landon Clow

5/15/14         

Broken On All Sides/Movie Tactic #4

Words: 411

 

The fourth event that the Citizens Advocating for Pretrial Expansion attended was showing the documentary Broken on All Sides created by Matthew Pillischer. To prepare for the film, fliers were made and put around campus to inform the students of Fresno State the location and time the documentary took place. The viewing of the film was in the Industrial Tech building. Having no prior knowledge of the documentary I was truly unaware of how heart wrenching of a documentary it was. Given that the main focus is in Philadelphia, the viewer cannot help but feel a sense of compassion to the social injustices of the American Criminal Justice System.

                Within the documentary there were a lot of facts that were shocking due to not fully grasping how poor of a condition the American prison system is in. The first being when it was stated that as a nation we hold five percent of the world's population but have twenty-five of the world's total prisoners. This fact is alarming in many ways, one being that the entire criminal sentencing system is broken. The film also points out that there have been far too many people whose lives have been damaged unfair laws on crime. There is no justifiable evidence that could be provided to support the claim that the United States should have twenty-five percent of the world's prison population. Another part from the documentary Broken on All Sides that is still resonating is that once you have been labeled as a felon it stays with the individual even after incarceration. Matthew Pillischer concludes that with the overwhelming difference in African Americans in prison compared to any other race, the prison system at its current state is being called "The New Jim Crow". Due to the fact that African Americans, who are given the title of being a felon, are seen as second rate citizens in terms of employment and the activities of maintain in today's society.

                I thoroughly enjoyed the documentary Broken on All Sides. It was an eye opening experience in that it put real life faces to the social injustice of the American criminal justice system. The film also shows that through the will of the people changes can be made. A quote from the documentary that stood out was, "Let us believe that we can threaten any opposite power structure in place, this is opposite the youth."