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    ‘Nature of the Crime’ Review: Yearning for a Second Chance

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    Two incarcerated men navigate parole boards in a documentary that asks the question: Should the guiding principle of criminal justice be retribution or rehabilitation?Peering into the heart of the beast we call the justice system, the directors Ricki Stern and Jesse Sweet zero in on parole, a part of the process that usually unfolds behind closed doors. “Nature of the Crime” offers rare glimpses of the make-or-break interviews that, in more cases than not, deny petitioners their longed-for second chance. As it traces, over a four-year period, the cycles of hope and despair for two incarcerated men — both in New York prisons for crimes committed in the state — this quiet and affecting documentary is at once an argument for reform and a soul-searching question: Should the guiding principle of criminal justice be retribution or rehabilitation?The men at the center of the film have been behind bars for more than 30 years. Todd Scott was 19 when he was charged, alongside three others, with the killing of a rookie police officer in Queens. Chad Campbell was charged at 14 with committing a horrific double murder in his upstate hometown. Speaking to the filmmakers, and in conversations with their devoted pro bono attorneys, they are thoughtful and sincere. When they also recall the abuse they suffered as children, they provide context, not excuses.For Scott and Campbell, the past is not mere prologue, but an ever-present, insurmountable barrier. The film’s title refers to a boilerplate bit of legalese that many New York parole boards invoke, a catch-22 that essentially denies the possibility of redemption. When Scott asks, “How can you be more remorseful?,” he’s speaking in terms both practical and philosophical. “Nature of the Crime” doesn’t sugarcoat the offenses, but, looking head-on at the offenders and where they are now, it asks that we do the same.Nature of the CrimeNot rated. Running time: 1 hour 29 minutes. Watch on Max. More

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      in Television

      Ofra Bikel, Filmmaker With a Focus on Criminal Justice, Dies at 94

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      Her award-winning documentaries for PBS’s “Frontline” series shed light on serious flaws in several cases and helped lead to the release of 13 prisoners.Ofra Bikel, a crusading filmmaker for PBS’s “Frontline” investigative series whose documentaries about the criminal justice system in the United States exposed deep flaws in the convictions of 13 people, died on Aug. 11 at her home in Tel Aviv. She was 94.Her niece Tamar Ichilov confirmed the death. She left no immediate survivors.After making an eclectic mix of “Frontline” documentaries, including ones about the war in El Salvador, people over 75 who were beset with spiraling medical costs and the Solidarity movement in Poland, Ms. Bikel’s focus shifted mainly to criminal justice cases.“I hate injustice,” Ms. Bikel told The New York Times in 2005. “It just bugs me.”One case, in particular, consumed her for seven years.In 1990, she started looking into a case in Edenton, N.C., where seven people, including Bob and Betsy Kelly, a married couple who owned the Little Rascals Day Care Center, were charged with sexually abusing 29 children.Mr. Kelly was convicted and received 12 consecutive life sentences, but his conviction was overturned. His wife pleaded no contest after 30 months in jail. The other five defendants, including three of the Kellys’ employees, also spent long periods in prison before their releases.The case, which lacked physical and conclusive medical evidence, relied on testimony from many children who defense lawyers said had been manipulated by therapists.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      in Movies

      ‘The First Step’ Review: Van Jones Battles for Bipartisanship

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      This well-meaning documentary follows the liberal commentator as he works with both political parties to pass a criminal justice reform bill.On a panel at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2019, Van Jones, a liberal CNN host, asserted that conservatives are the new vanguard of criminal justice reform. Scenes from that controversial appearance bookend “The First Step,” a tactful documentary that chronicles Jones’s efforts during the Trump administration to garner bipartisan support for a bill that would modify prison and sentencing laws. Directed by Brandon Kramer, the film presents Jones as an impassioned figure who kindled animosity on both sides for his readiness to reach across the aisle in pursuit of his goals.In many sequences, Kramer seeks to underscore his subject’s near-messianic zeal for progressive causes. Home video footage shows Jones as a Yale University law student praising books on revolution and flaunting a Malcolm X T-shirt at his graduation ceremony. But the film also makes space for critics of Jones’s methods, including the Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors, who says that Jones’s cooperation with the then president felt like a betrayal to many Black leftist movements.At once a story of legislative struggle and an admiring profile of a crusader, “The First Step” sometimes gets bogged down in bromides about community and common ground rather than unpacking the specifics of Jones’s approach and how it differs from his detractors’. Indeed, the most probing moments occur outside the political realm, as Jones and his twin sister recall his onetime struggle with speech impediments. The film’s analysis may be limited, but such personal moments lend it a compelling human quality.The First StepNot rated. Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes. In theaters. More