Deadline (documentary)

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Deadline (Documentary) is a documentary by Katy Chevigny and Kirsten Johnson about Illinois governor George H. Ryan's moratorium on the death penalty and the special clemency hearings for each person on death row. Every inmate (over 170) and their lawyers were given one-half hour to make his or her argument for life. Each prosecutor was alloted the same time to prove the need for execution. The film takes place over a few months late in 2002. The moratorium was a response to evidence that proved a man on death row, Anthony Porter, was wrongly convicted and the evidence by The Chicago Tribune suggesting the Illinois criminal justice system was severely flawed and may have executed innocent people.

The filmmakers paired the hearings with information about the death penalty in the United States, including capital punishment policies implemented in the 1970’s and landmark court decisions.

On January 10, 2003, just three days before his last day in office, he shocked the nation by pardoning four men. His move the next day that changed the course of judicial history in the United States, he granted blanket clemency to the remaining 167 people on Illinois’ Death Row, an unprecedented move for a U.S. governor.

"Our capital system is haunted by the demon of error - error in determining guilt, and error in determining who among the guilty deserves to die. Because of all of these reasons today I am commuting the sentences of all death row inmates." -Gov. George Ryan

Deadline was Big Mouth Productions' sixth feature-length documentary film. It was Johnson and Chevigny’s second film.

The documentary was aired on the Dateline NBC news program.

[edit] Nominations and Awards

Nominated for a 2004 Emmy Award

Premiered at The 2004 Sundance Film Festival

Winner of The 2005 Cine Golden Eagle Special Jury Award

Winner of The 2005 National Council on Crime and Deliquency PASS AWARD

Winner, Best Documentary, Audience Award and Best Directing, 2004 Black Point Film Festival

Honorable Mention, Best Feature Documentary, The 2004 Nashville Film Festival

[edit] Reviews

  • "Deadline, an excellent documentary...chronicling the astonishingly

flawed criminal justice system in Illinois." --Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times

  • "The film is an example of social activism at its best; it's not only

enlightening, but it's an engrossing story that a smart television audience should embrace." --James Greenberg, The Hollywood Reporter

  • "It gives you a chance to ruminate on some crucial questions of human

error, justice and life-and-death." --Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune

  • " ... an excellent film. See it." --Melissa Levine, San Francisco Weekly

[edit] External links

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