By Meghan Lalonde

West Memphis, 1993: Three 8-year-old boys brutally murdered in small-town Arkansas. Three satanic teenage “punks” to blame it on. When looking for suspects, these teenagers fit the bill – long hair, heavy metal fans, all dressed in black. There was even a confession. The story caught the attention of two HBO filmmakers, who decided to make a documentary about the horrible crime that traumatized the community.

The film that introduced the world to defendants Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley – the West Memphis Three (WM3) – wasn’t supposed to be about wrongful convictions. It wasn’t supposed to be a project that led to two additional films over the next 18 years. It just turned out that way.

Last month, HBO premiered the third and final chapter of the documentary, “Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory.” I’d heard about it and thought it seemed interesting so on a rainy Friday afternoon I turned on the TV to give the first one a shot. Six hours, two sandwiches, and a full liter of Diet Coke later, I was reeling.

Searching for order in all the disorder, I’ve boiled it down to an A to Z list of some of the haunting and perplexing aspects about this terrible miscarriage of justice. There will be no “Spoiler Alert” here. Google the film and you’ll see that the three convicted murderers are free, released in August 2011 after entering into Alford Pleas (see “P” below). As with so many epic stories, knowing the ending doesn’t minimize the gripping nature of the journey.

Alternative suspects. One of the many critical shortcomings of the West Memphis Police Department was failing to search for leads on additional suspects. First, police never investigated Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of one victim with a history of violence. Mr. Hobbs claimed he hadn’t seen the children the day they went missing, but his neighbors are certain they saw him with the kids after school, around the time they were last seen. In 1993, these neighbors were never questioned. Police also botched the investigation of an unidentified black man who was seen at a local restaurant covered in mud and blood on the evening of the murders. They collected blood samples from inside the restaurant, then lost the evidence.

Blood. When the bodies of the three boys were discovered in a stream they were found naked, hogtied, stabbed, and mutilated. The prosecution argued that the murders occurred near where the bodies were found, but if that were true, wouldn’t there have been blood found at the scene? There wasn’t. Not even a drop. The use of a knife and ritual bloodletting thought to be part of satanic rituals were integral to the prosecution’s theory against the WM3 and yet there wasn’t any blood to be found. Recent forensic analysis has explained that the scratches and skin flaying of the victims were actually due to animal predation.

Celebrity support. Celebrities figured among thousands of supporters who learned about the WM3 from the first film. In 2010, Johnny Depp and Eddie Vedder hosted a benefit concert in their support. When the WM3 were released in August, Damien Echols, the defendant who had spent 18 years on death row, said he wanted to go to Disneyland. Mr. Depp made it happen.   Read more »

By Mercedes Hobson

On October 15, the sons of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg (Robert and Michael Meeropol) took part, for the first time ever, in a screening and discussion of the 1983 film Daniel, a movie inspired by their parents’ infamous trial, and ultimate electric chair execution, for conspiracy to commit espionage.

This screening and panel discussion was part of Fordham Law School’s sixth annual Forum on Law, Culture, and Society, hosted by Fordham Law professor Thane Rosenbaum. Joining the brothers and Professor Rosenbaum on the panel was New York Times columnist Clyde Haberman.

I was not at all prepared for the extraordinary emotions the event would evoke in the audience and in me. Upon walking in that evening I noticed that, as an under-30 law student, I was in the minority. Most of the crowd appeared to be of retirement age, with a sea of salt and peppered hair filling the auditorium, and the few individuals appearing to be in my age group were those either accompanying older attendees or working as staff for the festival. During the film’s execution scene, I heard sobs and then noticed that nearly the entire audience was trying, unsuccessfully, to stifle their tears.

During the discussion, I understood why. These were all individuals who had grown up during the Rosenberg Trial and had personal connections to the events that took place.   Read more »

By Drew Carroll

Sunday, October 16, 5:00 p.m.

As protestors continued to rage against corporate greed by occupying the streets of downtown New York, a few miles uptown an audience is buzzing in Fordham Law School’s McNally Theatre. A large projection screen has faded to black at the end of the iconic 1980’s film that gave a face to corporate greed, Wall Street. While most movie audiences would be filing towards the doors by now, this one sits in hushed anticipation. The evening’s main attraction is yet to come, as Thane Rosenbaum, a professor at Fordham University School of Law and director of the Forum Film Festival, assures the gathering that his guest of honor is only moments away. With longish, flowing light hair, Professor Rosenbaum projects the image of ringmaster, a learned version of Gene Wilder’s Willy Wonka.

Professor Rosenbaum directs our attention to the double doors across the room, from where we can now see the burly and imposing figure of Oliver Stone.

“Good movie,” he says, settling into his chair.

Read more »

By Jason Rindenau

Last week I was fortunate to attend a screening and panel discussion at Fordham Law School’s Forum on Law, Culture, and Society.

Hosted by essayist, writer, and Fordham Law professor Thane Rosenbaum, the sixth annual Forum served up a timely collection of law-related films and post-screening discussions with the talented individuals who made them possible. This year’s selections included HBO’s film about the 2008 financial meltdown, Too Big To Fail, with featured appearances by the New York Times’ Andrew Ross Sorkin and former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker; the 1983 film, Daniel, which brought to Fordham Law the real-life sons of the film’s subjects, accused spies Ethel and Julius Rosenberg; and Wall Street, with special guests director Oliver Stone and film producer Edward Pressman.

I went to Wednesday evening’s screening of 1979’s Kramer vs. Kramer, starring Meryl Streep and Dustin Hoffman, because I hadn’t seen the film; I chose well. It is a classic that has held up beautifully since its release over 30 years ago,  and a must-see for anyone interested in family law. After the screening, the panelists, writer/director Robert Benton, the author of the novel on which the film was based, Avery Corman, and famed divorce attorney Raoul Felder participated in a panel discussion moderated by Professor Rosenbaum.   Read more »

The LASIS Staff

Director Sidney Lumet, director of such films as Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico, and Network died yesterday at the age of eighty-six.  Last year, LASIS looked at how young audiences today react to his legal masterpiece, Twelve Angry Men.