Executing the Insane: The Case of Scott Panetti
Scott Panetti is schizophrenic and is currently on death row in Texas. The U.S. Supreme Court heard Scott's case in mid April and is expected to hand down their decision on Thursday June 28th.The high court has long held that it is cruel and unusual punishment to execute the insane. In Scott Panetti's case the justices are examining whether it is cruel and unusual punishment to execute a person who does not fully understand the reason he is to be put to death. © 2007, 30:00

Earlier this year Off Center Media made a clemency video for Scott Panetti with the Texas Defender Service. Click here for more information about Scott's case.
UPDATE: JUNE 28, 2007, IN A 5-4 VOTE THE SUPREME COURT BLOCKS THE EXECUTION OF SCOTT PANETTI. READ THE 6.28.07 ASSOCIATED PRESS ARTICLE
FREE THE NORFOLK FOUR

Danial Williams, Joseph Dick Jr., Derek Tice, and Eric Wilson joined the Navy with aspirations of serving their country. Today, three of the four are in prison, serving life sentences for falsely confessing to a rape/murder that none of them committed, despite the fact that DNA has identified the real killer. © 2006, 32:39

Off Center recently completed The Norfolk Four: A Miscarriage of Justice, a 30-minute documentary about the Norfolk Four that has been submitted to the Governor of Virginia as part of a clemency petition.

Visit the Norfolk Four website
Tell the Governor of Virginia that you support clemency for the Norfolk Four.

UPDATE: NOVEMBER 10, 2008, 30 former federal agents, state that an independent review of evidence led them to the "inescapable conclusion" that the sailors "stand falsely convicted and imprisoned for a crime they did not commit." READ THE 10.08.08 NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE
GETTING THROUGH TO THE PRESIDENT

For three days, at one Greenwich Village payphone, hundreds of New Yorkers tried to get through to the President.With both humor and sincerity, New Yorkers fed quarters into a payphone and braved busy signals and excessive hold times to get their voices heard on topics such as the environment, healthcare, gay marriage, the war in Iraq, and much more. The film has aired on the Sundance Channel, Current TV, and Channel Thirteen/WNET and was produced in association with The Documentary Campaign.
©2004, 07:00

LYNNE STEWART: THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES
Off Center Media made The Struggle Continues in partnership with the Lynne Stewart Defense Committee in the spring of 2006. Lynne Stewart is a radical human rights attorney who was convicted of helping her terrorist client Sheikh Abdel Rahman. At the time this video was produced Lynne Stewart was facing 30 years in prison.Lynne Stewart received a 28-month sentence in October 2006, but is free on bail pending appeal.©2006, 16:22
HEARNE, TEXAS: SCENES FROM THE DRUG WAR
The story of a community engaged in a struggle to clear the names of those swept up in a corrupt drug raid. Produced in association with the ACLU of Texas.
© 2005, 22:49

To view project with Windows Media Player, click here.
To view project with Real Player, click here.
UPDATE: By November 2005, the criminal records relating to the 2000 Hearne,Texas drug raid were expunged for all of the plaintiffs in Kelly v. Paschall, the ACLU's civil suit (Michael Wells, Regina Kelly, Quincy Higgins, Milton Dunn, Darrell Gray, and Fredrick Seymore and Donal Eddington). Brad Boxley, the last defendant in prison, returned home, and the ACLU has filed a habeas petition on his behalf that seeks to erase Boxley’s criminal record.
Darryl BEST ADVOCACY VIDEO
A clemency video for Darryl Best, a man serving 15 years to life under New York's Rockefeller Drug Laws. Mr. Best, 49, was convicted after signing for a Federal Express package while at his uncle's house in the Bronx, repairing the roof. The package turned out to contain cocaine and the uniformed Fedex delivery man was an undercover officer.
©2004, 10:20

To view project with Real Player, click here.
To read about Darryl's story click here.
UPDATE: On 12/23/05, Governor George Pataki granted clemency to Mr. Best. Darryl Best's clemency petition is the only one that Pataki granted this year. Darryl's wife Wanda, the William Moses Kunstler Fund for Racial Justice and the Mothers of the Disappeared, along with Peter Greer and Jason Flom, have struggled tirelessly to make this day a reality.
Tulia, Texas: Scenes from the Drug war
Tulia, Texas is the site of what's been called one of the worst miscarriages of justice in recent memory. It's where an undercover narcotics officer named Tom Coleman arrested 46 people - nearly all of them black - on charges of being cocaine dealers, sending many of them to prison for a total of 750 years. See the documentary that brought national media attention to the story and led to the exoneration of these wrongfully convicted men and women. Produced by the William Moses Kunstler Fund for Racial Justice.Winner, Best Documentary Short, Woodstock Film Festival 2003. ©2002, 27:00

To view a draft of the project with Real Player, click here.
To
read Bob Herbert's 6/19/03 NY Times Op-Ed on the release, click here.
A PATTERN OF EXCLUSION: THE TRIAL OF THOMAS MILLER-EL

A video about racial discrimination in jury selection in the trial of Thomas Miller-el, a man sentenced to death in Texas in 1985. Produced in association with the Texas Defender Service.
©2002, 16:00

To view project with Real Player, click here.
To learn more about the case, click here.
UPDATE: On 6/13/05, the United States Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision that Mr. Miller-El is entitled to a new trial in light of strong evidence of racial bias during jury selection at his original trial.
AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE: THE PALESTINIAN REFUGEES IN LEBANON

There are at least 400,000 Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon and more then half still live in refugee camps. The living conditions of the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are considered to be the worst of all of the Arab host countries.  In June of 2004, 11 members of the National Lawyers Guild participated in a week long delegation to Lebanon to examine the conditions of the Palestinian Refugees.  They visited 12 refugee camps and settlements across the country. This video was put together as a result of their findings. Produced in association with the Middle East Subcommittee of the National Lawyers Guild. © 2004 16:00
IN THE NAME OF SECURITY
In May of 2002, a delegation from National Lawyers Guild went on a factfinding mission to the West Bank and Gaza. This video documents their journey. Produced in association with the Middle East Subcommittee of the National Lawyers Guild.
©2002, 27:00

 

BREAKING THE CHAINS: PEOPLE OF COLOR AND THE WAR ON DRUGS

A video celebrating the inaugural "Break the Chains" Conference focusing on Communities of Color and the War on Drugs in the United States. Produced in association with Break the Chains.
©2003, 16:00
STOLEN LIVES
Public Service Announcements about the collateral effects of New York's Rockefeller Drug Laws on families. Produced in association with The Drug Policy Alliance. (In Spanish and English)

©2001, 00:30