Coupable par amour

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 This conspiratory law is likely to be repealed but at the moment its as crazy as the Human Rights Act

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.

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.

This is an issue that still gets little attention from the media. Kudos to the writer and director for addressing one of the several crises (including health care and prison reform) that are still in shambles today.

Mercedes Ruehl is excellent as a woman who merely dated someone (who happened to be a drug dealer.) She was a nurse and had young children in the house, and once she realized what was going on she kicked the boyfriend (Russell) out.

At any rate she was arrested for associating with a drug ring. She had answered the phone a few times and merely taken a message, like anyone would in a busy house with children, friends, etc. Apparently the burden of proof for the prosecution in this criminal case was accepted as hearsay. People are guilty until proved innocent once they are "in the system". And if you cannot afford an excellent criminal attorney to defend you, the system is unjust.

We see many of the women in similar situations who were imprisoned with ridiculous sentences, some for 100 years. This is a disgrace that this can occur here in the U.S. If you like this film you may also enjoy "Against Their Will: Women in Prison", starring Judith Light as a woman who was unjustly imprisoned. 10/10 Very highly recommended.