film

Lockdown, USA

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Director(s)	Michael Skolnik, Rebecca Chaiklin
Release Date	2009
Work In Progress	No
Runtime	84 min
Format(s)	none
Language(s)	English
Youth Media	No

Film Description

Lockdown, USA is a feature documentary set on the front lines of the dramatic campaign to end the “War on Drugs” and repeal the Rockefeller Drug Laws. In the fall of 2001, Darrell Best was convicted of possession of cocaine. Darrell had been doing handy work at his uncle’s house and signed for a Fed-Ex that was addressed to a neighbor. The package contained a pound of cocaine. The District Attorney offered Darrell Best a one-year plea bargain, if he admitted guilt. Darrell refused to take the plea, insisting on his innocence and claiming he wanted to set an example of integrity and honesty for his children. The Judge apologized as he read Darrell Best his sentence, 15 years to life; the minimum sentence he could give Darrell under the Rockefeller Drug Laws. The film will bare witness to the devastating impact Darrell’s incarceration has had on his family and the noble fight his wife Wanda has launched, in an effort to bring him home. In the spring of 2003, the Best family got a glimmer of hope. An unusual Coalition, helmed by Russell Simmons, assembled to fight the “War on Drugs” and declared that the first battle would be to repeal the Rockefeller Drug Laws.

The film follows Russell Simmons as he orchestrates a high profile campaign, to raise awareness around the Rockefeller Drug Laws, with the intention of creating tremendous public pressure, forcing the politicians to enact reform. Russell recruits high profile artists such as P Diddy, Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Mariah Carey and Tim Robbins to join the campaign and speak out on the issue; he rallies tens of thousands of people and works throughout the night in heated behind the scenes negotiations with New York State Governor George Pataki and the State’s top politicians. The question remains, will they be able to make a deal? Lockdown, USA captures the stranger than fiction, historic series of events as they have unfolded; where the political establishment has been forced to reconcile with the burgeoning power of hip-hop.

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Administrative Contact	felixrodriguez
Last Updated On:	October 29, 2009