Kids for Ca$h
The Movie
In
2013 as I prepared for the following Spring semester 2014, I searched
for a text that I thought would compliment our reading of Michelle
Alexander's The New Jim Crow, Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.
I was looking for something that revolved around juvenile justice when I
stumbled upon another New Press title by William Ecenbarger through an
email blast about his book Kids for Cash: Two Judges, Thousands of Children, and a $2.6 Million Kickback Scheme.
I felt this text would fit the focus of history we get from
Alexander's text connecting mass incarceration to the roots of slavery
and the modern day practice of zero tolerance and an American juvenile
justice system in Luzerne County Pennsylvania that fed off the
vulnerabilities of American children cycling them into an unnecessary
costly detention binge.
Over
the course of the semester I had no idea a film would reveal itself
based on the Kids for Cash scheme. I finally got the chance to watch
Kids for Cash the movie on Netflix and encourage everyone, especially CJ
students, justice professionals, educators, policy people, etc. to
watch and continue to pass the word on this film, especially the text.
It's an informative and detailed account not only of the Luzerne County
story, but how it reflects a much bigger problem nationwide when it
comes to both adult and juvenile incarceration.
This
film puts a face to injustice unlike any documentary film I've ever
seen. By the end I wondered who's face sat behind the bench when Kalief
Browder was remanded without bail having to endure three years on
Riker's Island.
For more information on the film visit kidsforcashthemovie.com
The
film is available as DVD and stream from Netflix. You can access
Netflix through the app and watch on any mobile device. You can also
purchase your own copy through Amazon click here.
Keywords + Tag = Kids for Cash | William Ecenbarger | Robert May | Mark Ciavarella | Michael Conahan | Juvenile Law Center | Kalief Browder | Riker's Island | juvenile justice | The New Press | documentary | prison | incarceration | corruption | Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas | Pennsylvania | VBW classroom | criminal justice
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