How American Violet Relates to Criminal Justice

Posted: November 30th, 2013

How American Violet Relates to Criminal Justice

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How American Violet Relates to Criminal Justice

American Violet is a movie with a powerful theme on the role of racism in the war against drugs. It is not a horror film but still the audience may be outraged due to the injustice portrayed by a Texas district attorney. Based on true events that took place in 2000, it has the sense of a soundly made television drama. Tim Disney has directed the film while Bill Haney, who wrote the screenplay, is the producer. Dee Roberts is the stage name for Nicole Beharie, who plays the role of a spirited African-American woman. This remarkable new film expresses this woman’s tale of abuse in the palms of a brutal legal system. It tells of a struggle to triumph over prejudice in regulated racism and lawful injustice.

Within the course of the movie, background clips showing the aftermath of the election between George W. Bush and Al Gore remind us that this is not a 1960s story. It is a fictionalized account of Regina Kelly, of Hearne in Texas. A legal case rose against the Texas District Attorney (Regina Kelly vs. John Paschall) which is detailed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The Frontline show by PBS previously showed her story and reported on Kelly’s case in June 2004. Regina Kelly’s narrative is told in the viewpoint of Dee Roberts, a mother of four small children. Dee is arrested and dragged from a diner, where she works, for allegedly distributing narcotics in her neighborhood.

She neither carries drugs nor is she found in possession of the same. However, she finds out that the prosecution has a witness. Dee’s lawyer, appointed by the court, suggests that she should get a plea bargain for a wrongly accused crime. Agreeing to the bargain would stamp her with a felony record for the sale of drugs in a school region. However, this would prevent her from getting any federal backing in the future for national housing or food stamps. This puts her future at great risk, and she plays plaintiff in class activity of a test case spearheaded by David Cohen, an ACLU attorney. Dee sues any person involved and claims racial discrimination was why she was involved in the drug sweep and group arrest.

The message in this movie is a vital one and shows that the same instances still happen in current days. Graham Boyd, an ACLU lawyer, was at the heart of Kelly’s case and strongly suggested that racism has not disappeared. Lack of apt regulations and failure has allowed the abuse and misuse of classified informants in the Drug War. This breeds complete injustice on a big degree. Graham claims that the situation has mainly been hidden from community scrutiny. Dee would not have anything to do with it. A 16-to-25 year period in prison for not taking the plea bargain, which comes with a minute fine and 10-year suspended ruling, was what she would suffer. Her mother thinks she is a fool for brushing off such a deal.

Dee’s boldness is heroic as well as the concern she shows for her children’s welfare. Cohen addresses a congregation and interprets the oppression depicted in the justice system. Military tactics are being employed in drug task forces to intimidate black people. Federal money is extensively used in counties that sentence most people and plea bargains are diligently pursued. The frightening thought of penalties for conviction of drug-allied crimes push the victims to plead guilty. Al Gore’s acknowledgement speech is symbolic to mean that systemic discrimination in Melody serves as a symptom of large-scale injustice.