Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2019
Abstract
In Pennsylvania, life means life without the possibility of parole (“LWOP”) or “death by incarceration.” Although executive commutation offers long serving rehabilitated lifers hope of release, in the past 20 years, only 8 commutations have been granted by the state’s governors. This article describes the collaboration between an organization of incarcerated persons serving LWOP and the law-school-based Penn Program on Documentaries and the Law that produced a video supporting increased commutations for Pennsylvania lifers. The article details the methodology of collaborative videomaking employed, the strategic decisions over content that were impacted by the politics of commutation, and the contributions of visual criminology to the video’s portrayal of the lifers who participated in the project.
The documentary can be viewed at https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/doclaw/6/.
Keywords
Criminal justice policy, sentencing, commutation power, Pennsylvania, documentary filmmaking, visual legal advocacy, visual criminology, legal & visual ethics, Lifers Inc., SCI Graterford
Publication Title
University of Pennsylvania Journal of Law & Social Change
Repository Citation
Austin, Regina, "“Second Looks, Second Chances”: Collaborating with Lifers Inc. on a Video about Commutation of LWOP Sentences" (2019). Faculty Scholarship. 2018.
https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/faculty_scholarship/2018
Included in
Criminal Law Commons, Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons, Film Production Commons, Law and Society Commons, Law Enforcement and Corrections Commons, Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Commons, State and Local Government Law Commons, Visual Studies Commons
Publication Citation
22 U. Pa. J. L. & Soc. Change 71 (2019)