DVD Collection

Eleven jurors are convinced that the defendant is guilty of murder. The twelfth has no doubt of his innocence. How can this one man steer the others toward the same conclusion? It's a case of seemingly overwhelming evidence against a teenager accused of killing his father. Originally released as a motion picture in 1957.
Genre: Courtroom, Drama
Director: Sidney Lumet
Writer: Reginald Rose
Cast: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Ed Begley, E.G. Marshall, Jack Warden, Martin Balsam, John Fiedler, Jack Klugman, Edward Binns, Joseph Sweeney, George Voskovec, Robert Webber.

Based on an incredible true story of one man's fight for survival and freedom. In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty (personified by a malevolent slave owner), as well as unexpected kindnesses, Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon's chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist will forever alter his life. Originally released as a motion picture in 2013.
Director: Steve McQueen
Writers: Solomon Northup (based on his memoir 12 Years a Slave), John Ridley (screenplay)
Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Lupita Nyong'o, Sarah Paulson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Paul Giamatti, Brad Pitt

Fourteen-year-old Antoine Doinel lives in a cramped apartment with his mother and stepfather, neglected by them and unlucky at school. Living an intense imaginative life of his own he gets into trouble and is finally committed to reform school from which he escapes and runs towards the sea, which he has never seen. In French with optional English subtitles. Originally issued as a motion picture in France in 1959.
Writer, Director: François Truffaut
Cast: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Claire Maurier, Albert Remy, Guy Decomble, Georges Flamant, Patrick Auffay.

500 Nations is an eight-part documentary that looks back at life in North America before the arrival of the Europeans, then follows the epic struggles of Indian Nations as the continent is reshaped by contact.
Disc 1. Prologue: Wounded Knee legacy. Episode 1. The ancestors: early cultures of North America. Episode 2. Mexico: the rise and fall of the Aztecs.
Disc 2. Episode 3. Clash of cultures: the people who met Columbus. Episode 4. Invasion of the Coast: the first English settlements.
Disc 3. Episode 5. Cauldron of war: Iroquois democracy and the American Revolution. Episode 6. Removal: war and exile in the East.
Disc 4. Episode 7. Roads across the Plains: Struggle for the West. Episode 8. Attack on culture: "I will fight no more forever".
CD-ROM. Extensive archival and making-of material.
Director: Jack Leustig
Writers: Jack Leustig, Roberta Grossman, Lee Miller, W.T. Morgan
Host: Kevin Costner
Narrator: Gregory Harrison
Voices of: Tim Bottoms, Tantoo Cardinal, Gary Farmer, Graham Greene, Castulo Guerra, Amy Madigan, Edward James Almos, Tony Plana, Eric K. Schweig, Patrick Stewart, Wes Studi, Gordon Tootoosis, Floyd Red Crow Westerman, Sheldon Wolfchild.

This film is the documentary about the first ten years of the International War Crimes Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and the great battles it has had to fight over the past decade: for survival, for respect and for time. The testimony of the current and former president of the Tribunal: judges Antonio Cassese, Gabrielle Kirk McDonald, Claude Jorda and Theodor Meron; Chief Prosecutors: Richard Goldstone, Louise Arbour and Carla del Ponte; and many other players, document this exciting, important and successful experiment in international criminal justice. Through library footage from the courtrooms and from crime scenes, the film reconstructs the crucial and most dramatic moments - victims testimonies, confessions, forensic evidence, investigations, indictments, judgments - that have marked the decade in which the Tribunal managed not only to survive but to succeed against all odds.

This DVD tells the history of The Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales (ICLR) and explains how its reporters go about their daily business of covering all the major courts and reporting all the most important cases which change or clarify the law. It consists of five short films, as well as reference documents available in pdf format.

Host Bill Kurtis and the Investigative Reports team take a close look at the controversy surrounding the INS's immigration policy on detention and confinement of undocumented immigrants entering the United States.

Based on a true story, the movie chronicles the 1839 journey of a group of enslaved Africans who overtake their captor's ship and attempt to return to their beloved homeland. When the ship, La Amistad, is seized, these captives are brought to the United States where they are charged with murder and await their fate in prison. Much of the story involves the court-room drama about the slave who led the revolt. Originally released as a motion picture in 1997.
Director: Steven Spielberg
Writer: David Franzoni
Cast: Morgan Freeman, Nigel Hawthorne, Anthony Hopkins, Djimon Hounsou, Matthew McConaughey, David Paymer, Pete Postlethwaite, Stellan Skarsgård.

The Anatomy of Hate; A Dialogue to Hope reveals the shared narratives found in individual and collective ideologies of hate, and how we as a species can overcome them. For six years the filmmaker worked with unprecedented access to some of the most venomous ideologies and violent conflicts of our time including the White Supremacist movement, Christian Fundamentalism as an anti-gay platform, Muslim Extremism, the Palestinian Intifada, Israeli Settlers and Soldiers, and US Forces in Iraq. By juxtaposing this footage with interviews from leading sociological, psychological, and neurological experts, and interspersing stories of redemption told by former “combatants”, the film weaves a tapestry that reveals both the emotional and biological mechanisms which make all of us susceptible to acts and ideologies of hate, and demonstrates how these very same traits make us equally capable of overcoming them...
Director: Mike Ramsdell
Narrator: Justin Barret

Assaulted : Civil Rights Under Fire is a documentary that takes audiences into the heart of the controversial issue that is dividing our nation: gun control. Narrated by Ice-T, a critically-acclaimed rapper and actor, the film takes a critical look at current gun laws and the rising movement to restrict the rights guaranteed by our Second Amendment.
Writer/Director: Kris Koenig
Narrator: Ice-T
Stream the video: Assaulted : Civil Rights Under Fire

Director: Wayne Ewing

Berring on Legal Research is a fun, fast-paced, easily digestible two-DVD set that instructs students and other legal professionals on the “deep principles” of legal research and applies these principles to practical, real-life situations.
Disc 1. Introduction - Why legal research is so important -- The deep principles -- Judicial reports -- The three part court structure -- The structure of an opinion -- The format -- Finding cases : after context -- Final thoughts
Disc 2. Thinking about research -- Statutes : the context -- Federal statutes : At Large -- Federal statutes : Code -- Federal statutes : Annotated -- Finding federal statutes -- Federal statutes : legislative history -- State statutes - a few words -- Administrative law -- Secondary sources -- Research rules.

Political documentary filmmaker Michael Moore's probe of America's predilection for gun violence, including an examination of America's culture of fear, bigotry and violence in a nation with widespread gun ownership. Originally released as a motion picture in 2002.
Writer/Director: Michael Moore

When Rosa Parks was arrested in 1955 for refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white man, the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. was but a modest young Baptist minister suddenly thrust into the leadership of local bus boycott. What started as a one-day protest of unfair bus laws turned into the 381-day boycott that gave birth to the civil rights movement. This riveting made-for-cable drama meticulously recounts the challenges the protest faced. Jeffrey Wright is excellent as King, capturing his charisma and rousing speeches while grounding his heroism in human vulnerability and fear, but Boycott reminds us that he was only one of the thousands of ordinary people roused into extraordinary action in the name of equality and social justice. That portrait of everyday heroes changing the course of history remains the film's most rousing message. Originally broadcast on HBO in 2001.
Director: Clark Johnson
Writers: Stewart Burns, Herman Daniel Farrell, and Timothy J. Sexton
Cast: Jeffrey Wright, Terrence Howard, CCH Pounder, Carmen Ejogo

Three Australian lieutenants are court martialed for executing prisoners as a way of deflecting attention from war crimes committed by their superior officers. Based on a play and true story. Originally released as a motion picture in 1979.
Director: Bruce Beresford
Writer: Jonathan Hardy, David Stevens, Bruce Beresford
Cast: Edward Woodward, Jack Thompson, John Waters, Bryan Brown, Rod Mullinar, Charles Tingwell.

Focuses on the Pittston Coal Company, and the disaster which occurred in 1972 when a coal waste dam burst, leaving 125 dead and 4,000 homeless. The first part discusses the disaster through interviews with survivors, union leaders, citizens, and company officials. The second part, filmed ten years later, explores survivors' efforts to rebuild the communities and the difficulties they faced from the government and the Company.
Director: Mimi Pickering

This documentary examines the 1972 presidential campaign of Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to Congress and the first to seek a presidential nomination. Following Chisholm from her candidacy announcement through her historic speech in Miami at the Democratic National Convention, this film about a champion of marginalized Americans illuminates Chisholm’s groundbreaking initiative as well as political and social currents still very much alive today.
Director: Shola Lynch

An all-powerful press magnate, Kane, dies in his fabulous castle Xanadu, his last word being "Rosebud", which leads a reporter to seek the meaning behind the word and find the meaning of Kane. Prominent publisher, William Randolph Hearst, saw the film as a thinly disguised version of his career and attempted to suppress it. Citizen Kane originally produced as a motion picture in 1941 ; The battle over Citizen Kane originally produced for television broadcast in 1996 by WGBH Educational Foundation.
Disc 1. Citizen Kane
Disc 2. The battle over Citizen Kane
Director: Orson Welles
Writers: Herman J. Mankiewicz, Orson Welles
Cast: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore, Agnes Moorehead, Ruth Warrick, Ray Collins, Erskine Sanford, Everett Sloane, William Alland, Paul Stewart, George Coulouris.

Based on the book by Jonathan Harr. A high-priced personal injury attorney takes on a case that becomes an epic legal battle ... one that may cost him his career, reputation and all that he owns.
Writer/Director: Steven Zaillian
Cast: John Travolta, Robert Duvall, John Lithgow, William H. Macy, Kathleen Quinlan, Tony Shalhoub.

From Harper's Ferry, Fort Sumter, and First Bull Run to Shiloh, Antietam, and Gettysburg, The History Channel Presents : The Civil War explores the most legendary Civil War battles in brilliant detail. A sweeping selection of the soldiers and legendary leaders who fought these battles, including Sherman, McClellan, Grant, Beauregard, Lee, Davis, and Jackson, are also brought back to life in richly detailed profiles. Through interviews with scholars and historians, reenactments, and their own written words, the full military and political contexts of these men, their armies, and the clashes between them are thoroughly explored. Originally broadcast as individual episodes of Civil War journal and Civil War combat television series on The History Channel.

This forum was organized by the U.S. Association of Constitutional Law, American University, Washington College of Law. Justices Antonin Scalia and Stephen Breyer spoke of the relevance of foreign law for American Constitutional adjudication, including the use of foreign court precedents in deciding U.S. constitutional cases and whether the United States should consider shifting world standards on social and moral issues such as the death penalty. Originally broadcast live on January 13, 2005.
Moderator: Norman Dorsen, New York University law professor, Founder and President
U.S. Assn. of Constitutional Law
Speakers: Stephen G. Breyer, Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme Court
Claudio Grossman, Dean, American University Washington College of Law
Michel Rosenfeld, President, U.S. Assn. of Constitutional Law
Antonin Scalia, Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme Court
Stream the video: Constitutional Relevance of Foreign Court Decisions

On 6 August 1992, British journalists from ITN and the Guardian unveiled to the world the existence of camps for non-Serb civilians in the area of Prijedor in north-western Bosnia and Herzegovina. Shocking images of emaciated inmates circled the planet in just a few days and shook the conscience of humanity. Barely two months later, a process was set in motion which would change the face of international criminal justice forever. Through interviews, investigative news footage and courtroom testimonies, Crimes before the ICTY: Prijedor depicts the discovery of the camps and the subsequent process that led to the establishment of the first international criminal Tribunal since WWII, as well as the judicial outcome of the crimes committed in this Bosnian town. In English, French, German and Serbo-Croatian with subtitles in English.
Director/Writer: Petar Finci

In early 1992, several months after ethnic tensions had burst into terrible conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina, tensions reached a boiling point in Višegrad. Muslims began to be systematically attacked, tortured or killed resulting in a massive population shift that meant the near eradication of the Muslim population in the area. The investigations into these crimes led to the prosecution of direct perpetrators. Through first-hand witness testimonies, Trial and Appeals Chambers judgements and interviews with the protagonists, Crimes before the ICTY: Višegrad tells the gripping story of the judicial response to the tide of ethnic cleansing that swept the municipality. In English, Bosnian Serbian and Croatian with subtitles in English.
Director/Writer: Steve Coulson
Narrators: Anna Dil, Aida Hasanbegovic

During his extraordinary life, Cruz Reynoso has been one of those rare individuals who are not only shaped by history, they make history. As a child of farm workers, Reynoso felt the sting of injustice, and later as a lawyer, and then the first Latino to sit on the California Supreme Court, he used his "justice bone" to eradicate discrimination and inequality in an effort to make the promise of the American dream a reality for all. Cruz Reynoso: A Man for All Seasons is a compelling portrait of one of America's unsung heroes and the turbulent times in which he lived.
Director: Abby Ginzberg

This documentary shows the magnitude and severity of domestic violence in this country. The film features four women imprisoned for killing their batterers and their terrifying personal testimonies. Academy Award winner for Best Documentary Short, 1993.
Directors: Margaret Lazarus, Renner Wunderlich, and Stacey Kabat

This documentary explores the loss of priceless artwork, artifacts and historical sites through war and terrorism. Based on the book The Destruction of Memory : Architecture at War by Robert Bevan.
Director/Writer: Tim Slade

Based on the book Red alert by Peter George. A satire in which the U.S. president and his military advisors struggle ineptly to avert a holocaust after a psychotic Air Force general launches a nuclear attack on the Soviet Union because he fears that the Russians are poisoning the water supply in the United States. Originally released as a 1963 motion picture by Columbia Pictures.
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Writers: Stanley Kubrick, Peter George, Terry Southern
Cast: Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn, Slim Pickens.

Erin Brockovich is a feisty young mother who convinces attorney Ed Masry to hire her and promptly stumbles upon a monumental law case against a giant corporation. Erin's determined to take on this powerful adversary even though no law firm has dared to do it before. The two begin an incredible and sometimes hilarious fight that will bring a small town to its feet and a huge company to its knees. Originally released as a motion picture in 1999.
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Writer: Susannah Grant
Cast: Julia Roberts, Albert Finney, Aaron Eckhart, Marg Helgenberger, Cherry Jones, Veanne Cox, Conchata Ferrell, Tracey Walter.

Volumes 1-3 tell the story of America's civil rights years from 1954 to 1965; volumes 4-7 examine the new America from 1966 to 1985, from community power to the human alienation of urban poverty.

v. 1. Awakenings, 1954-1956 ; Fighting back, 1957-1962
v. 2. Ain't scared of your jails, 1960-1961 ; No easy walk, 1961-1963
v. 3. Mississippi : Is this America?, 1962-1964 ; Bridge to freedom, 1965
v. 4. The time has come, 1964-1966 ; Two societies, 1965-1968
v. 5. Power! 1966-1968 ; The promised land, 1967-1968
v. 6. Ain't gonna shuffle no more, 1964-1972 ; A nation of law? 1968-1971
v. 7. The keys to the kingdom, 1974-1980 ; Back to the movement, 1979-1985.

Two short videos about the problems documentary filmmakers encounter in determining whether they are making "fair use" of images or sound in their films, and the costs and inconveniences of obtaining copyright clearance. Copyright can make documentary filmmaking more difficult, hurt the quality of documentaries, and even impose a form of censorship. A new document produced by the Center for Social Media at American University, entitled Documentary filmmakers' statement of best practices in fair use, will give filmmakers guidance and support in fair use. Includes a selection of examples of successful fair use and a special text feature about industry acceptance of the statement.

Based on the play by Aaron Sorkin. Cruise stars as a brash Navy lawyer who's teamed with a gung-ho litigator in a politically-explosive murder case. Charged with defending two Marines accused of killing a fellow soldier, they are confronted with complex issues of loyalty and honor - including its most sacred code and its most formidable warrior. Originally released as a motion picture in 1992.
Director: Rob Reiner
Writer: Aaron Sorkin
Cast: Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore, Kevin Pollak, Kevin Bacon, James Marshall, J.T. Walsh, Kiefer Sutherland, Wolfgang Bodison, Michael DeLorenzo.

The story of Ray Kroc, a salesman who turned two brothers' innovative fast food eatery, McDonald's, into one of the biggest restaurant businesses in the world with a combination of ambition, persistence, and ruthlessness. Originally released as a motion picture in 2017.
Director: John Lee Hancock
Writer: Robert Siegel
Cast: Michael Keaton, Nick Offerman, John Carroll Lynch, Laura Dern.

In 1886, the United States government mobilized 5,000 men - nearly one-quarter of the entire U.S. Army - to capture Geronimo and his band of 39 followers. For decades, these Apaches had resisted the advance of pioneers and other threats to their traditional way of life, fighting attempts by the federal government to confine them to reservations. This film is a search to separate myth from reality in the tragic collision of two cultures with dramatically different views of the world and of each other. Originally broadcast as an episode of The American Experience in 1998.
Director: Neil Goodwin

Through interviews with key government officials, diplomats, soldiers, and survivors, this documentary examines the state-sponsored genocide in Rwanda in 1994. Explores the reasons why the international community and the United States did not intervene as Hutu extremists killed some 800,000 Tutsis. Originally broadcast as a segment of the television program Frontline, April 1, 2004.
Director, Writer: Greg Barker
Narrator: Will Lyman

A suspenseful psychological drama delves into the inner workings of the human mind. An egocentric lawyer, Arthur Jamison, conducts an ongoing debate with his conscience about the ramifications of killing his wife, Louise, to be with his mistress. The tension builds to a peak as he weighs the pros and cons of the impending crime. Originally released as a made for television movie in 1985.
Director: David Greene
Writers: Richard A. Levinson, William Link
Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Blythe Danner, Swoosie Kurtz, Donegan Smith, Wiley Harker, Ruth Manning

Based on the thrilling and inspirational life of an iconic American freedom fighter, the movie tells the extraordinary tale of Harriet Tubman's escape from slavery and transformation into one of America's greatest heroes. Her courage, ingenuity, and tenacity freed hundreds of slaves by way of the Underground Railroad and changed the course of history. In English, French or Spanish dialogue; French or Spanish subtitles.
Director: Kasi Lemmons
Writers: Gregory Allen Howard, Kasi Lemmons
Cast: Cynthia Erivo, Leslie Odom, Jr., Joe Alwyn, Clarke Peters, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Vondie Curtis Hall, Jennifer Nettles, Janelle Monáe.

The documentary analyzes and discusses so called "frivolous law suits" and the impact of tort reform on the United States judicial system. It discusses several cases and relates each to tort reform in the U.S.: Liebeck v. McDonald's Restaurants (public relations campaign to instigate tort reform); Colin Gourley's malpractice lawsuit and caps on damages; the prosecution of Mississippi Justice Oliver Diaz and judicial elections; Jamie Leigh Jones v. Halliburton Co. and mandatory arbitration. The film exposes how corporations spent millions on a propaganda campaign to distort Americans' view of lawsuits, forever changing the civil justice system. From the infamous case of the woman who sued McDonalds over spilled coffee to the saga of the Mississippi Supreme Court Justice deemed 'not corporate enough' by business interests, this program tears apart the conventional wisdom about 'frivolous lawsuits.'
Director: Susan Saladoff

Presents first-person accounts of the economic crisis from Wall Street insiders, lenders, homeowners, and former Federal Reserve Chairman, Alan Greenspan. Documents the chronology of the buildup and collapse of the U.S. housing market that triggered a worldwide economic meltdown. Originally broadcast in 2009.
Producers: James Jacoby, Jill Landes
Writer: James Jacoby
Reporter: David Faber

I Am Not Your Negro is a 2016 American documentary film based on James Baldwin's unfinished manuscript, Remember This House. The film explores the history of racism in the United States through Baldwin's reminiscences of civil rights leaders Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr, as well as his personal observations of American history.
Director: Raoul Peck
Writer: James Baldwin
Narrator: Samuel L. Jackson

The aliens are coming and their goal is to invade and destroy Earth. Mankind’s best weapon is the will to survive. 2013 release of the 1996 blockbuster.
Director: Roland Emmerich
Writers: Dean Devlin, Roland Emmerich
Cast: Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Mary McDonnell, Judd Hirsch, Margaret Colin, Randy Quaid, Robert Loggia, James Rebhorn, Harvey Fierstein.

In American history, no document has sparked as much reverence, discussion, and controversy as the Constitution. But how does it really affect our everyday lives? Join Bill Moyers for this eleven-part series, originally produced to mark the Constitution's bicentennial, that delves into the fascinating history and contemporary relevance of the ultimate law of the land. Originally broadcast on PBS in 1987.
Disc 1. Episode 1. In the beginning. Episode 2. Mr. Justice Blackmun. Episode 3. Mortimer Adler : teaching the Constitution.
Disc 2. Episode 4. Mr. Justice Brennan. Episode 5. Ronald Dworkin : the changing story. Episode 6. God and the Constitution.
Disc 3. Episode 7. Strictly speaking. Episode 8. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Episode 9. For the people.
Disc 4. Episode 10. 1987 v. the Constitution. Episode 11. Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr.
Director: Vern Diamond (and others)
Host: Bill Moyers

Frontline investigates the causes of the worst economic crisis in 70 years and how the government responded. The film chronicles the inside stories of the Bear Stearns deal, Lehman Brothers collapse, the propping up of insurance giant AIG and the $700 billion bailout.
Writer/Director: Michael Kirk
Narrator: Will Lyman

Across the USA, Native Americans are struggling to protect their sacred places. Religious freedom, so valued in America, is not guaranteed to those who practice land-based religions. This documentary discusses the struggles of three indigenous communities to protect their sacred sites from rock climbers, tourists, strip-mining, development and New Age religious practitioners. Originally produced as a motion picture in 2001.
Director: Christopher McLeod
Writer: Jessica Abbe
Narrators: Peter Coyote, Tantoo Cardinal

This documentary tells the story of the attempt to assimilate American Indians into white culture by educating them at special schools such as the Carlisle School for Indians. Founded by Richard Henry Pratt, this school and others like it attempted to wipe out all remnants of Indian culture, and, as a result, created a generation of Indians confused about their identities. Originally broadcast as a segment of the television series The American experience in 1992.
Writer/Director: Christine Lesiak

The Invisible War is a 2012 documentary film about sexual assault in the United States military. The film has been lauded by advocates, lawmakers, and journalists for its influence on government policies to reduce the prevalence of rape in the armed forces.
Writer/Director: Kirby Dick
Stream the video: The Invisible War

American judge Dan Haywood presides over the trial of four German jurists accused of "legalizing" Nazi atrocities. But as graphic accounts of sterilization and murder unfold in the courtroom, mounting political pressure for leniency forces Haywood to make the most harrowing and difficult decision of his career. Originally released as a motion picture in 1961.
Director: Stanley Kramer
Writer: Abby Mann
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Marlene Dietrich, Maximilian Schell, Judy Garland, Montgomery Clift, William Shatner, Werner Klemperer, Virginia Christine.

This documentary tells how an African American construction worker's personal-injury lawsuit against his employer evolved into a landmark jury selection case on the Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Edmonson v. Leesville Concrete Co. that under the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause, parties in civil cases cannot use race-based peremptory challenges to reject potential jurors.
Writer/Director/Narrator: Robe Imbriano
Stream the video: Jury selection : Edmonson v. Leesville Concrete Company

Kids For Cash is a riveting look behind the notorious judicial scandal that rocked the nation. In the wake of the shootings at Columbine High School, a small town in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania elected a charismatic judge who was hell-bent on keeping kids in line. Under his reign, more than 3,000 children were ripped from their families and imprisoned for years over petty crimes. When one parent dared to question his harsh brand of justice, it was revealed the judge had received millions of dollars in payments from the privately-owned juvenile detention centers. Originally released in 2013.
Director: Robert May

Based on the novel Kramer versus Kramer by Avery Corman. When his wife walks out, Ted Kramer and his six-year-old son have a chance to really get to know each other. Then Ted's wife returns and she wants her son back. A heated custody battle ensues over the divorced couple's son, deepening the wounds left by the separation. Originally released as motion picture in 1979.
Writer/Director: Robert Benton
Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Jane Alexander, Justin Henry.

Documentary that juxtaposes footage of two election campaigns run by West Virginian Democrat Warren McGraw in 1972 and 2004. The film uses the two campaigns to draw a picture of the changes in American politics over the last 30 years.
Director: Wayne Ewing

Using journals, oral accounts and Indian ledger drawings as well as archival and feature films, James Welsh and Paul Stekler combine talents to examine this watershed moment from two views: from that of the Lakota Sioux, Cheyenne and Crow who lived on the Great Plains for generations; and from that of the white settlers who pushed west across the continent. Originally broadcast as an American Experience segment in 1992.
Director: Paul Stekler
Writers: James Welch, Paul Stekler
Narrator: Scott Nomaday

The story of Richard and Mildred Loving, an interracial couple, whose challenge of their anti-miscegenation arrest for their marriage in Virginia led to a legal battle that would end at the US Supreme Court. Based in part on the documentary "The Loving story" by Nancy Buirski.
Writer/Director: Jeff Nichols
Cast: Joel Edgerton, Ruth Negga, Marton Csokas, Nick Kroll, Michael Shannon

This documentary tells the inspiring and heartwarming story of Mildred and Richard Loving, an interracial couple who married in 1958 despite Virginia's anti-miscegenation laws. After hearing the Loving v. Virginia case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of the Lovings on June 12, 1967. This precedent-setting decision resulted in 16 states being ordered to overturn their bans on interracial marriage. Alabama was the last holdout, finally repealing its anti-miscegenation law in 2000.
Director: Nancy Buirski
Writers: Nancy Buirski and Susie Ruth Powell

Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Carnegie, Morgan, Ford, the "Men Who Built America". Meet the titans who forged the foundation of modern America and created the American Dream. The mini-series shines a spotlight on the influential builders, dreamers and believers whose feats transformed the United States. a nation decaying from the inside after the Civil War, into the greatest economic and technological superpower the world had ever seen. Originally broadcast as a mini-series on the History channel in 2012.
Director: Ruan Magan
Cast: Adam Jonas Segaller, Eric Rolland, Michael Chmiel, Justin Mork

Set in Mississippi in 1964, this controversial film is based on the true story of the case of three young civil rights workers (real life names: James Earl Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner) who were brutally murdered in June 1964. The chaotic aftermath was dubbed Mississippi Burning. This movie is told from the perspective of the FBI's operations to uncover evidence and bring the killers to justice. Anger over the real incident prompted the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act in 1965. Originally produced as a motion picture in 1988.
Director: Alan Parker
Writer: Chris Gerolmo
Cast: Gene Hackman, Willem Dafoe, Frances McDormand, Brad Dourif.

The film relates the perspective of victims and survivors of the Mumbai, India terrorist attack of November 26, 2008. It depicts the events of 60 hours broadcast live to the world via cell phones and Internet, text and Twitter, showing how social media became a silent witness and simultaneously transformed news as it happened. Originally broadcast as an episode of the television series Secrets of the dead.
Producer/Director: Victoria Potts

Two carefree pals mistakenly arrested and charged with murder are defended by the cousin of one of them (Vinny), a former auto mechanic of Brooklyn who just passed his bar exam after his sixth try. Vinny has never been in court and this case quickly turns into a hysterical escapade. Originally produced in 1992 as a motion picture.
Director: Jonathan Lynn.
Writer: Dale Launer
Cast: Joe Pesci, Marisa Tomei, Ralph Macchio, Mitchell Whitfield, Fred Gwynne.

No Fire Zone is an explicit and horrifying expose of the final months of the 26-year-long Sri Lankan civil war told by the people who lived through it. Using unseen footage recorded by both the victims and perpetrators on mobile phones and small cameras, the film meticulously exposes some of the worst war crimes and crimes against humanity in recent times and becomes direct evidence of a war that was supposed to be conducted in secret. Made in 2013, it was updated and expanded in 2015 with important new evidence. Public performance rights included.
Director: Callum Macrae
Narrator: Rufus Sewell

The murder of Dr. George Tiller has reignited the abortion debate, and raised the question: should violence against medical doctors who perform abortions be viewed and prosecuted as domestic terrorism? NOW sits down with two of the remaining handful of doctors who publicly acknowledge performing late abortions, including Leroy Carhart, a fellow doctor in Tiller's Wichita, Kansas clinic. Originally broadcast as a segment of the television program Now on June 12, 2009.
Host: David Brancaccio
Senior Coorespondent: Maria Hinojosa
Stream the video: Abortion Providers Under Siege

Explores the history, politics, and philosophy behind the Nuremberg Trials through contemporary film footage and interviews with those who played significant roles as prosecutors, translators, and investigators.
Narrator: Rolland Smith
Writers: Frank Basile, Rolland Smith

O.J.: Made in America is an essential examination of the rise and fall of Orenthal James Simpson, and the parallels between his incredible story and that of race in America. This critically-acclaimed documentary series reveals how he first became a football star, why America fell in love with him off the field, what happened in the trial for the Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman murders, and finally, why he is now sitting in jail for another crime 20 years later. His is a story that divided America like few things before or since, and it is perhaps the defining cultural tale of twentieth-century America. Originally debuted on television in June 2016.
Director: Ezra Edelman

In 1942, Fred Korematsu was an average 23-year-old California native working as a shipyard welder. But when he refused to obey Executive Order 9006, which sent 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry into internment camps, he became something extraordinary - a civil rights champion. The film brings to life the inspirational story of an ordinary man's courageous actions, and the legal fight for his exoneration, which became a landmark episode in the civil rights struggles of the 20th century. Originally broadcast on the television program POV in July 2001.
Writer/Director: Eric Paul Fournier

U.S. Supreme Court Justices Stephen G. Breyer, Anthony Kennedy, and Sandra Day O'Connor fielded questions in Washington Tuesday, May 16, 2006 from 50 high school students from the Philadelphia and Los Angeles areas. The students and justices discussed the significance of the judiciary and the ways that independence is protected by the Constitution.

Orients students to the workings of the legal system. It defines docketing and calendaring; reviews legal language; differentiates among federal, state, and local law; shows how to file and record legal documents, cite legal cases, and check for conflicts; and presents an overview of the court system, legal specializations, and legal proceedings.
Director: Scott Yarbrough
Writer: Lynn Klessig
Narrators: Sara Van Allen, Steve Bailey

Based on the novel by John Jay Osborn, Jr. A first-year law student at Harvard Law School struggles with balancing his coursework and his relationship with the daughter of a stern professor. Originally released as a motion picture in 1973.
Writer/Director: James Bridges
Cast: Timothy Bottoms, Lindsay Wagner, John Houseman, Edward Herrmann, James Naughton.

On the night of November 26, 2008, ten men armed with guns and grenades launched an assault on Mumbai that left 166 dead. David Coleman Headley, a Lashkar/ISI operative had been casing the city for two years. He was an American citizen. Frontline and Sebastian Rotella team up to investigate the circumstances behind Headley's rise from heroin dealer and U.S. government informant to master plotter of the 2008 attack on Mumbai. Originally broadcast as segments of the television program Frontline on Nov. 22, 2011.

The film explores how a small group of people in Madrid laid the groundwork for the incredible feat of catching a dictator 25 years after his rise to power. Crucial to the legal case against Pinochet were the testimonies of victims of the crimes of the his regime. Hundreds of Chileans, relatives of the "disappeared," ex-prisoners who suffered torture and interrogation in secret prisons, traveled to Madrid to testify. The film movingly incorporates their stories and also follows the workings of the British legal system that ensued.
Director: Patricio Guzman

Adapted from the best-selling novel by Leon Uris, QB VII tells the story of the gripping court battle between a Polish-born doctor and the American author who accuses him of having performed atrocious experiments on concentration camp prisoners during World War II. Originally released as a motion picture in 1974.
Director: Tom Gries
TV Adaptation: Edward Anhalt
Cast: Ben Gazzara, Anthony Hopkins, Leslie Caron, Lee Remick, Dan O'Herlihy, Anthony Quayle, Jack Hawkins.

Moving from slavery to civil rights, The Road to Brown provides a concise history of how African-Americans finally won full legal equality under the Constitution. Its depiction of the interplay between race, law and history adds a crucial dimension to courses in U.S. History, Black Studies, Constitutional Law, Law & Society, Social Movements and Government. It opens up a discussion of the true significance of the Brown v. Board decision on the path towards racial equality. The example of Charles Houston's persistence and determination will inspire today's students to take America further down the long road to social justice.
Directors/Writers: William Elwood, Mykola Kulish
Stream the video: The Road to Brown

A documentary about Flint, Michigan native Michael Moore and his efforts to meet with General Motors' president Roger Smith in order to persuade the executive to visit Flint, a city which is economically depressed due to the closure of a General Motors plant. Originally produced as a motion picture in 1989.
Writer/Director: Michael Moore

The documentary, Scenes of a Crime, produced and directed by Blue Hadaegh and Grover Babcock, examines the interrogation of a young African American father from Troy, New York – Adrian Thomas – whom police suspect of battering his 4-month-old son to death. Doctors treating the brain-dead infant misdiagnosed a skull fracture, and contacted law enforcement about “shaken baby” abuse. The story is told from all sides of the case: detectives, prosecutors, defense attorneys, jurors, witnesses and the accused himself. Prof. Richard Ofshe, a pioneer in the study of police interrogation, analyzed video-recordings of the interrogation for the defense, and presents a detailed analysis in the film. In 2009, Thomas was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years to life. On June 12 2014, Thomas was acquitted of killing his infant son after the New York State Court of Appeals ordered a new trial for him, citing among other reasons “highly coercive” techniques used by police during his interrogation.
Director: Grover Babcock; Blue Hadaegh
Stream the video: Scenes of a Crime

This documentary film explores the legacy of the International Criminal Tribunal of the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) from jurisprudential and human rights perspectives. The film is comprised of interviews with numerous attorneys, human rights activists, journalists, NGOs, victims' groups, and others to determine what the Tribunal has achieved and how it is perceived globally and in the Balkans.
Producers: June Vutrano, Erin Lovall.

The unforgettable true story chronicles the tumultuous three-month period in 1965, when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a dangerous campaign to secure equal voting rights in the face of violent opposition. The epic march from Selma to Montgomery culminated in President Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the most significant victories for the civil rights movement. Originally released as a motion picture in 2015.
Director: Ava DuVernay
Writer: Paul Webb
Cast: David Oyelowo, Tom Wilkinson, Carmen Ejogo, Giovanni Ribisi, Alessandro Nivola, Tim Roth, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Oprah Winfrey.

Based on the ground-breaking Brown vs. the Board of Education case in 1954; viewers follow a young Thurgood Marshall, the lawyer who argued the racially-charged lawsuit before the Supreme Court. When the black students of Clarendon County, South Carolina are denied their request for a single school bus, a bitter and courageous battle for justice and equality begins. Originally aired as a television mini-series in 1991.
Director: George Stevens, Jr.
Cast: Sidney Poitier, Burt Lancaster, Richard Kiley, Cleavon Little.

This documentary depicts the Tribunal's historic role in the prosecution and adjudication of wartime sexual violence. It includes testimonies from witnesses and survivors of sexual violence, who bravely gave evidence at trials, and interviews with former and current ICTY professionals who worked on these cases. In English, French, German and Serbo-Croatian with subtitles in English.
Director: Rob Barsony
Writers: Rob Barsony, Petar Finci
Narrator: Lisa Biersay

This program focuses on witness preparation from the perspective of 10 well-known and respected trial consultants from across the country, who have years of experience and expertise in the field. This practical, original program covers a wide range of topics, including the 5 Elements and 10 C's of Credible Testimony, myths involving witness prep, developing rapport with clients and witnesses, the 3 Steps for witness responses, the 8 Critical Steps for witness preparation, and much, much more. With humor and insight, these consultants provide sensible and novel recommendations for handling 13 of the most challenging witnesses. These include the dishonest witness, the narcissistic witness, the controlling witness, the professional witness, the angry witness, the non-compliant witness, the rambling witness, the scared witness, the theatrical witness, the bored witness, the uncertain witness, the insensitive witness, and the whining witness. A Study Guide accompanies this 2-volume DVD set.

The Supreme Court is an unprecedented series exploring the history, impact and drama of America's highest court. It's known as the court of last resort -- the Supreme Court -- where nine judges appointed for life make monumental decisions that govern our everyday lives, from the contents of the nation's daily newspapers to what we can do in the privacy of our own homes. With immense power and considerable mystery, the court of final appeal has helped author the history of America. Originally broadcast on PBS on Jan. 31st and Feb. 7th, 2007.
v. 1. One nation under law
v. 2. A new kind of justice
v. 3. A nation of liberties
v. 4. The Rehnquist revolution.

This documentary depicts the crucial role played by victims and witnesses in the prosecution of those alleged to be responsible for crimes committed during the 1990s on the territory of the former Yugoslavia. The film portrays the courage it takes to come to the ICTY to testify, and explores the five witnesses’ motives for doing so. With the participation of ICTY judges and staff, as well as footage from actual ICTY testimonies, Through Their Eyes: Witnesses to Justice provides a lasting reminder of the contributions made by witnesses to international justice and the importance of live testimony in an international judicial context. In English, Bosnian, Croatian or Serbian.
Director: Steve Coulson
Writers: Peter Finci, Steve Coulson

Thurgood is the remarkable celebration of the life and legacy of Civil Rights advocate and Supreme Court pioneer Thurgood Marshall, the first African American appointed to the nation's highest judicial bench. The one-man play was filmed in front of a live audience at the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater in Washington, D.C. It originally aired in 2011 on HBO.
Director: Michael Stevens
Writer: George Stevens, Jr.
Actor: Laurence Fishburne

Based on the Pulitzer-Prize winning novel by Harper Lee. Atticus Finch, a lawyer in the Depression-era South, defends a black man falsely accused of rape by a lonely, young white woman.
Director: Robert Mulligan
Writers: Harper Lee (based on her novel To Kill a Mockingbird), Horton Foote (screenplay)
Cast: Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, Philip Alford, John Megna, Ruth White, Paul Fix, Brock Peters, Frank Overton, Rosemary Murphy, Collin Wilcox

The torture question traces how decisions made in Washington, D.C. in the immediate aftermath of September 11th led to a robust interrogation policy that laid the groundwork for prisoner abuse in Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay, and Iraq. The program provides the context for understanding how the rules were confused, how lines of authority were blurred, and what happens when the authorization of "coercive interrogation" makes it way into the battle zone. The program focuses on the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq as a case study in prisoner abuse. Originally broadcast on October 18, 2005 as a segment of the television program Frontline.
Writer/Director: Michael Kirk
Narrator: Will Lyman
Reporter: Jim Gilmore
Stream the video: The Torture Question

The film discusses the history and impact of strip mining in Kentucky, and focuses on actions by people directly affected by mining on both sides of the question: miners and farmers. The documentary makes a powerful statement about the land and how we use it, and how its misuse conflicts with local cultures and values.
Director: Anne Lewis

The Trial of Ratko Mladić provides haunting insights into a war criminal's motives, and the genocide he commanded his troops to carry out - as well as an intimate look at the victims left behind, who remain haunted by what their families endured. It tells an epic story of justice, accountability and a country trying to escape its bloody past. FRONTLINE goes inside the historic five-year trial, with unprecedented, behind-the-scenes access to the prosecution and defense teams, as well as to witnesses from both sides who came to give evidence.
Directors: Henry Singer, Rob Miller

Drama revolves around the President, Josiah Bartlet, and his staff at the White House. Among the global crises Bartlet faces are a nuclear showdown between India and Pakistan, an American plane shot down by terrorists and another plane shot down by Syria. Originally aired on television from 1999-2000.
Writer/Director: Aaron Sorkin
Cast: John Spencer, Robe Lowe, Stockard Channing, Dulé Hill, Allison Janney, Moira Kelly, Janel Moloney, Richard Schiff, Martin Sheen, Bradley Whitford.

The President and staff have been targeted for disruption by rival politicians, soon after being targeted by would-be assassins. The President heads through midterm elections and into a crisis that leads to allegations of criminal conduct. 22 episodes. Originally aired on television from 2000-2001.
Directors: Thomas Schlamme [and others]
Writers: Aaron Sorkin [and others]
Cast: Martin Sheen, Rob Lowe, Allison Janney, Stockard Channing, Dulé Hill, Janel Moloney, Richard Schiff, John Spencer, Bradley Whitford.

The 22-episode third season whose storylines include the investigation into the alleged cover-up of President Barlet's illness, the early bid for a second term and confrontations with global terrorism. Reel- and real-life events profoundly intersect in the historic Isaac and Ishmael episode made in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Must-see bonus features include a special The West Wing look at the executive branch featuring interviews with former U.S. Presidents and staff. Originally aired on television from 2001-2002.
Executive Producers: Aaron Sorkin, Thomas Schlamme, John Wells
Cast: Rob Lowe, Dulé Hill, Allison Janney, Janel Moloney, Richard Schiff, John Spencer, Bradley Whitford, Stockard Channing, and Martin Sheen.

One of two essential witness preparation DVDs that focuses on techniques and methods effectively used by trial consultants, in conjunction with the trial team, to help prepare witnesses to testify in depositions, hearings, or trials.

One of two essential witness preparation DVDs that focuses on techniques and methods effectively used by trial consultants, in conjunction with the trial team, to help prepare witnesses to testify in depositions, hearings, or trials.