News
View All“The Return”: Resentencing, Reentry Support, and a Criminal Defense Lawyer’s Evolving Roles
June 21, 2016
“The Return” reveals why a lawyer, deeply involved in the resentencing of Three Strikers as a way of reducing mass incarceration, placed reentry services near the top of his concerns.
“Last Day of Freedom”: Bill Babbitt’s Struggle with the Stigma of Being the Brother of a Murderer
January 25, 2016
How does a brother cope with the shame, guilt, regret, and anger of being the relative of a mentally-ill ex-Marine who committed a murder, but should not have been executed for it?
Prison Portraits: Photographic Self-Representation in an Image Desert
December 7, 2015
As the Docs Program undertakes visual work on behalf of lifers incarcerated for decades because they are ineligible for parole, we confront a ban on photographing and filming in prisons. Prison Portraits may be useful in providing not only a way to deal with the ban, but also an argument why it is wrong.
“A Civil Remedy” Backstory: How Law Professor Kate Nace Day Came to Make a Documentary Short about Domestic Sex Trafficking
July 17, 2015
After analyzing numerous documentaries about sex trafficking, Law Professor Emerita Kate Nace Day decided to make one that focuses on a vision of civil justice for survivors.
Forget Flattery: The Attributes of a Good, Effective Sentencing Video
May 29, 2015
A sentencing video should be more than a flattering portrait of a defendant; it should tell the story of what the defendant has done to deserve a lighter sentence and why he or she is unlikely to reoffend.
“Get Digi With It”: AUDIOVISUAL TECHNOLOGY’S CHALLENGE TO RESTRICTIONS ON RECORDING IN PENNSYLVANIA PRISONS
October 21, 2014
The PA Department of Corrections’ nearly complete ban on recording in its facilities by lawyers and the media needs to be reexamined in light of advances in the use of digital audiovisual technology and visual legal advocacy.
To Ask or Not to Ask? The Law, Ethics, & Etiquette of Capturing the Public for “DIY Stock”
August 28, 2014
What guidance should law students be given about capturing candid images of the public, in public and without the subjects’ consent, for a “DIY Stock” gallery?
Storytellers Needed! Collaborations and the Promise of i-Docs
August 14, 2014
When social justice collaborations and storytellers are in short supply, visual legal advocates should pursue the promise of i-Docs (Interactive Documentaries) to encourage participation and activism for change.
VLA Production Sine Qua Non: A DIY “Stock” Image Gallery with a “Street Vibe”
August 3, 2014
Having a DIY gallery of stock images of your own making is a sine qua non to teaching and practicing visual legal advocacy. Capturing stills and video footage with the characteristics of street photography in mind will really enrich the collection.
Teaching Advocacy Video Production in Law School: Getting by with a Lot of Help from My Collaborators
July 26, 2014
This is the first in a series of “how-to” posts on structuring a course that involves law students, supported by a host of collaborators, in producing and directing short social justice advocacy documentaries.
The First-Graders Who Were “The Memphis 13”: A Different Visual Take on Brown v. Board
June 23, 2014
“The Memphis 13” is not only a powerful and thought-provoking short documentary; it also illustrates the potential contributions of visual legal scholarship.