GIDEON'S ARMY ON HBO

2.3 million people in this country behind bars. It's an industry. 90% of those accused of felonies DON'T EVEN CONTEST IT because if they plead guilty, they get a lesser sentence and I guess if you are a certain color in a certain neighborhood you figure you're likely to wind up in jail anyway. A new HBO documentary profiles several lawyers who are public defenders--the state-provided lawyers which we are all entitled to by law. This interview with the filmmaker and one of those lawyers is as touching and inspiring as it is sad. Glad that Sundance is screening stuff like this and that HBO is airing it. And how on earth does Amy Goodman of DemocracyNow.org, with no distracting graphics or pleas for us to follow her on twitter, manage to get her butt to Sundance to cover this with no budget? I guess you don't need a big budget to tell the truth. And bless her heart, she cuts right through the talking points into scary core issues in society like how we are actively creating a criminal underclass. This is a real eyeopener.



A TRAILER:

GIDEON"s ARMY 8 MINUTE TRAILER from Dawn Porter on Vimeo.