Quando il perdono è una condanna

Court cases are always interesting when human stories are involved and this is a human story-not something to do with organised crime or fraud. It highlights an injustice for a start and its a reminder that the worse the crime is the less time you serve if the continuing release of rapists who go on to reoffend is anything to go by.

Though this is not 100% about a real person its many who found themselves serving a sentence for what is actually NOTHING. At the beginning you see the woman Susan trying to find a solicitor who was supposed to be better than the ones the courts appoint but her fees were too high so she declined because she can't find the money without remortgaging her house she learns she can't as its been seized-supposedly paid for by her partner's drug business which she had nothing to do with. You see her pleading with him and finally ordering him out because of the drugs business.After which she is suddenly arrested and learns the partner has been as well but as he plea bargains for a lesser sentence she can't do that -she knows nothing. These mandatory sentences are unsafe convictions. The main of the film is to show how she coped inside-which is admirably. This conspiratory law is likely to be repealed but at the moment its as crazy as the Human Rights Act

I had no idea (and I'll bet there are a lot of folks who shared my ignorance, hence the need for this movie to be made) that there is a federal law of mandatory minimum sentencing with regard to drug association. In this tv drama Guilt by Association, Mercedes Ruehl discovers how dangerous being innocent it can be. Her boyfriend, Alex Carter, smokes marijuana with his friends and sometimes sells a little supply so he can get his own for free. Mercedes hates his recreational activity, and she actually breaks up with him since he doesn't want to stop. Then, one day, the police barge into her house and arrest her in front of her children. Her house and other possessions are seized by the government, and she's charged with four counts of conspiracy to sell and assisting in drug dealing. Alex's friends all turn on her to reduce their sentences, and in court, innocent actions are twisted around: She took a few phone messages when Alex was busy, and once she returned his gym bag he'd left at her house, not knowing it was filled with drugs instead of workout attire.

Because of the mandatory minimum law, she's given an outrageous sentence, far longer than those who actually did the drug dealing. It's shocking and horrifying, and she has to say goodbye to her young children. By the time her sentence (which is not eligible for parole) is up, her kids will be adults. While in prison, she finds out that many, many other women have been imprisoned for the same crime: taking a few phone calls for their boyfriends, or knowing what they were up to and choosing not to blow the whistle.

This is tough to watch, since anyone who has seen Caged knows women's prisons are rough. Threats, violence, solitary confinement, and without even a semi-private cell while she sleeps, Mercedes lives through Hell and gives an excellent performance. This is one of those movies that makes you inspired to write your congressman, and it's a subject I'd never heard of before. I've seen countless prison movies, but never one where the victim has been sentenced to more years than the person who actually did the crime. In the film, the judge himself says he believes the sentence to be too harsh, but Congress has taken any power to change it out of his hands. If you only think of Mercedes Ruehl as being a flashy girl with long nails wearing animal print, this sobering drama will certainly change your mind about her.

Good story. I feel for those families that lost their time with their parents.

This was a good movie, I agree with the last poster. However, that last poster was making a lot of sense until their last sentence where they criticized the star of the movie in not being very pretty and being pushy. Huh? What has that to do with anything? It totally turned that intelligent review of the movie into a base adolescent review. In real life, we are not all pretty, handsome or meek and mild. Movies don't always feature beautiful people. I find it shallow of one to remark on the looks of the star in this movie. She gave a great performance. To top it off, do you know what the "real" person in this story looks like? She could be even uglier than your perception of the lead character in this movie. I fail to see the relevance in the actress's looks. Besides, she is not ugly. Ugly is more related to character than physical appearance. I believe "ugly" people are people who are evil. This actress is not ugly.

Guilt By Association is one of those TV movies that someone decides to create in order to inform the public about the great injustice of something going on in our nation. It's meant to inspire frustration from the general public so that they might be inspired to seek change by getting involved or even voting for the people who oppose these things. Because the film is structured so blatantly to tackle a specific topic, at times the characters themselves and their story take a backseat. I'm all for informing people about the ugly truths of the war on drugs and how mandatory minimums work, but a documentary like 13th does a more effective job of it than Guilt By Association. I don't know, perhaps to inspire the proper amount of outrage certain people need to see Mercedes Ruehl (a white mother-figure) impacted by these ugly laws, and cute little Rachel McAdams too. But I don't think it makes people truly face the reality of what the nation created these laws to do. I was duly frustrated with the unfair things that happen to the characters in this movie, but I wouldn't suggest someone watch it just for the sake of getting outraged. The whole story is even uglier than the one small piece highlighted in Guilt By Association.