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FROM THE DEALER TO THE NARCOTICS OFFICER, THE INMATE TO THE FEDERAL JUDGE, A PENETRATING LOOK INSIDE AMERICA'S CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM, REVEALING THE PROFOUND HUMAN RIGHTS IMPLICATIONS OF U.S. DRUG POLICY.

  EUGENE JARECKI ---FILMMAKER

Eugene Jarecki is an Emmy and Peabody award-winning director of dramatic and documentary subjects who has twice won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, first in 2005 for Why We Fight and again in 2012 for The House I live In.

I. HOW ARE YOU FEELING? (PSYCHO- EMOTIONAL)

• Write down 1-3 words only on how you FEEL

• Identify an object (or draw an image) that expresses your EMOTION. Briefly share why you chose that word(s) and object.

• Who or what could you most identify or empathize with in the film?

• Who or what were you most unable to connect to?

“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.” ---President Nelson Mandela

II. WHAT ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT THE SYSTEM (SOCIOLOGICAL)• What information about the War on Drugs in this film was most

revealing to you?

• What does this film tell you about how the criminal justice system operates, particularly towards privatization?

• What does this film tell you about people who use drugs and why they use them?

• What does this film tell you about the negative impact of the War on Drugs on communities?

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr: “A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies…True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.”

THE FOLLOWING FAITH PRINCIPLES OR IDEAS, AROUND WHICH THERE ARE MANY SACRED NARRATIVES, ARE SUGGESTED BY THE FILM.

Forgiveness Healing Justice Love Mercy

Punishment Redemption Reconciliation Sin

Violence Murder

III. WHAT BASIC BELIEFS AND UNDERSTANDING HELP US MOVE FORWARD? (FAITH) • How does your personal understanding of these ideas

help you address the issues related to the War on drugs or mass incarceration in the United States?

• How does your faith help you address the issues related to the War on Drugs or mass incarceration in the United States?

• What are the implications of the War on Drugs and rates of incarceration in the United States for the ELCA ,the Church Universal and/or the Ecumenical community?

IV. HOW DO WE BEGIN THE QUEST FOR JUSTICE? (NEXT STEPS)

• Where do we go from here?

• What can we do?

• How do we begin the journey?

ELCA CRIMINAL JUSTICE SOCIAL STATEMENT• Task Force formed in response to Synods

• “Hearing the Cries” Congregational Study Guide

• (4) Hearing the Cries, Accompaniment, Hospitality & Advocacy

• Social Statement Draft & Synod Hearings

• Social Statement Document prepared for CWA 2013

The ELCA affirms the fundamental principles of the U.S. criminal justice system such as due process of law and the presumption of legal innocence, the draft also recognizes serious deficiencies –overly harsh sentencing and persistent inequalities based on race and class. ---ELCA News Service , March 15, 2012

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESThe New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander

The New Jim Crow in Texas: Towards a New Consensus on Justice May 14, 3013 King of Glory Lutheran Church Dallas

PBS-Frontline Drug War Series

Drug Policy Alliance

The House I Live In Organization (www.thehosueilivein.org)

2012 UMC Divests 1 Million from CCA & GEO Group

To Be Free At Last ( www.2befreeatlast.net)