FILM

The Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center of Houston along with seven sponsors will present a  Film Screening: Crime after Crime, Sunday, Sept 25  at  4:00 p.m. Directed by Yoav Potash, USA, 2011, 93 min.

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Deborah Peagler’s daughter, Natasha Wilson, along with Rev. Dr. Robert M. Gilmore Sr. of Houston Ministers Against Crime, Rabbi Steven Morgen of Congregation Beth Yeshurun, Dr. Toby Myers, a domestic violence expert, and attorney Joseph S. Owmby.

As the High Holy Days approach, contemplate the Jewish values of teshuva, tzedek, and chesed (repentance, justice, and kindness). Crime After Crime, celebrated at the recent Sundance Film Festival, is a deeply moving documentary that chronicles the legal battle to free Debbie Peagler, a California woman serving a sentence of 25 years to life in prison for her connection to the murder of the man who brutally abused her.

When California changes the law to allow cases like Debbie’s to be re-opened, she is matched with two pro-bono lawyers who have no criminal law experience, but are fully committed to the case. After an initial investigation, lawyers Nadia Costa and Joshua Safran, an Orthodox Jew, believe the incontrovertible evidence they have found will mean she will be free in a matter of months. As the case becomes a legal marathon, they discover cover-ups and corruption in legal authorities who value self-protection over the administration of justice.

With each new obstacle, the trio’s connection deepens as they never give up the fight for what they know is right - Debbie’s freedom.

Visit the film's website.

Sponsoring organizations include: American Civil Liberties Union of Texas; Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee; Criminal Justice Institute at University of Houston Law Center; National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence; National Council of Jewish Women – Greater Houston Section; Shalom Bayit: Houston Jewish Network Against Domestic Abuse-A Program of Jewish Family Service; and Women’s Resource Center at University of Houston.