The Legacy: Murder & Media, Politics & Prisons

When in 1993 the twelve-year-old Polly Klaas was abducted within a stone’s throw of her house in a Californian suburb and was later found killed, it resulted in one of the largest round-ups organised by people in history. Two months later, Richard Allen Davis was arrested for the crime, a man who had already committed an offence before. Polly‘s father, Marc Klaas, became one of the chief spokespersons for the ‘Three Strikes and You‘re Out‘ movement. They campaigned for the passing of a law that stipulated that in case of a third offence a long jail sentence inevitably followed, irrespective of the nature of the crimes. The law was passed in the state of California in 1994. What began as an initiative by alarmed citizens to keep repeated offenders off the street turned into a campaign that was ruled by media hysteria and political gains. It got out of hand to such a degree that eventually Marc Klaas distanced himself from his initial standpoint, which brought him face to face with his partner in misfortune and ally Mike Reynolds. The socially committed filmmaker Michael J. Moore has been making documentaries about social and political issues for ten years, including Freedom on My Mind, which was awarded for an Academy Award, and George Seldes: Tell the Truth and Run. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)