INDEPENDENT LENS: RED HOOK JUSTICE (TV)

Summary

One in this PBS series that showcases new documentaries and dramas created by independent filmmakers that tell stories of ordinary people who are heroes nonetheless. This documentary, narrated by LisaGay Hamilton, is about the unique brand of experimental "community justice" being dispensed in Red Hook, Brooklyn, a neighborhood long characterized by unemployment, poverty and crime. After the troubled neighborhood is explored, Charles Hynes, Brooklyn district attorney, explains how cases are typically prosecuted in his borough. Judge Alex Calabrese from Red Hook Community Justice Center contrasts how the emphasis in his court --which opened in June 2000 -- is being placed on neighborhood-based problem solving and rehab, rather than punishment and jail time. Judge Judith Kaye, chief justice of New York, talks about how courts can be part of the solution. Brett Taylor, Legal Aid Society Defender, discusses the problems confronting many Red Hood residents, and why his main goal is getting help for them. Along with showcasing other court staffers, the lives of various defendants are explored, including orphaned teen brothers Anthony and Michael Ward, both of whom have a record of multiple drug arrests, and pregnant Letitia Sanchez, who lost two children to foster care after her arrest for an attempt to buy heroin. All three try to improve their lives via Red Hook's community justice center. As the program concludes, the dispositions of Sanchez's case and the Ward brothers' situations are disclosed. Finally, the filmmakers question if the community justice system will improve conditions and life in Red Hook.

Cataloging of this program was made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Details

  • NETWORK: PBS
  • DATE: May 24, 2005 10:00 PM
  • RUNNING TIME: 0:53:30
  • COLOR/B&W: Color
  • CATALOG ID: T:85817
  • GENRE: Public affairs/documentaries
  • SUBJECT HEADING: Courts; Drug abuse
  • SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1999-
  • COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

  • Meema Spadola … Producer, Director, Writer
  • Thom Powers … Co-Producer
  • Eliza Byard … Writer
  • Ethan Stoller … Music by
  • LisaGay Hamilton … Narrator
  • Alex Calabrese
  • Charles Hynes
  • Judith Kaye
  • Letitia Sanchez
  • Brett Taylor
  • Anthony Ward
  • Michael Ward