| The Reentry National Media Outreach Campaign offers media tools and resources to support informed discussion, decision making, and action about solution-based reentry programs that foster public safety and support healthy communities. We encourage you to review the diverse materials and consider how you may be able to use them effectively. |
| The Reentry National Media Outreach Campaign acts as a catalyst to encourage solution-based reentry activities. Review this chronicle of public television and community events/actions to gain ideas on what may work in your arena. |
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BORDERLINE aired on Free Speech TV, March 12, 2006 Documentary Description BORDERLINE is an 83-minute documentary that tells the story of Eunice Baker, a borderline mentally retarded woman who was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for murdering a young child, despite evidence that the death was accidental. After nearly five years in prison, The New York State Appellate Court recently reduced Eunice's sentence to criminally negligent homicide, and she was released on time served. When she was first brought in for questioning, Eunice, who did
not understand her Miranda rights, signed a false confession. The
document states that while babysitting young Charlotte Kurtz, Eunice
intentionally killed the child by locking her in her bedroom and
turning the thermostat up to 90 degrees on a hot June day. The defense
in her trial claims that a short in the thermostat's circuitry caused
the sweltering heat inside the home, a fact that is confirmed by
the sworn testimony of an electrical expert. Eunice's lawyer also
asserts that his client, due to her limited cognitive capacity (her
IQ is between 65 and 78), did not realize that the heat posed a severe
threat to the three- From day one, Eunice was tried in the media and found guilty. Not until the midst of the trial were any articles printed that were sympathetic to her, though evidence supporting her innocence had surfaced. With no audio or video recording of Eunice's confession, jurors were forced to decide whether or not she possessed the intelligence to have understood her Miranda rights or realized that Charlotte was in danger. By following this controversy as it unfolds in the rural upstate New York courtroom of Judge Vincent Sgueglia, BORDERLINE draws attention to the problem of how mentally handicapped individuals are treated by the legal system across the nation, especially in rural communities and small towns. With more than 4% of the national prison population considered mentally retarded, this issue, which has been overlooked for decades, is only now gaining the national recognition it deserves. According to Scott Miller, Eunice Baker's lawyer, mentally retarded people have little protection as they often waive their Miranda rights without understanding what they are doing. Since people with mental retardation tend to provide more incriminating evidence to prosecutors than other defendants, they are also generally less successful at plea-bargaining. When they go to trial, their testimony may be viewed as less credible because aggressive prosecutors can make them appear unreliable. Using Eunice Baker's case as an example, BORDERLINE raises the question of whether the legal system, which presupposes a mentally competent defendant, is prepared and able to protect the rights of mentally disabled people. The lives of both Charlotte Kurtz and Eunice Baker were tragic. Charlotte's mother, Nikki Sherman, was 16 when she became pregnant. After being taken away by social services, Charlotte changed foster parents seven times. Eunice was the victim of repeated sexual abuse at the hands of her stepfather. By delving deep into their troubled backgrounds, this film seeks to explain the non-legal issues and complexities leading up to the fateful night, attempting to help viewers understand how such a tragedy could come to pass. BORDERLINE unfolds chronologically, emerging as a
poignant story of one family’s
struggle for justice in the context of a small, economically depressed
rural town. As Eunice’s case progresses, the audience is forced
to grapple with challenging questions Following Eunice's story from her initial trial to her ultimate release, and focusing on her family's struggle to defend her despite poverty and their own mental disabilities, BORDERLINE draws attention to the way mentally handicapped individuals are treated by the legal system, especially in rural communities and small towns. Ultimately, the film proves that the legal system, while seriously flawed, has the potential to right itself and correct injustice. BORDERLINE Production Staff Slawomir Grunberg, Producer/Director Slawomir Grünberg is an Emmy Award-winning documentary producer, director, cameraman, and editor, born in Lublin, Poland. He is a graduate of the Polish Film School in Lodz, where he studied cinematography and directing. He emigrated from Poland to the U.S. in 1981, and has since directed and produced over 40 television documentaries. School Prayer: A Community at War premiered on PBS in the 1999 POV season, received an Emmy Award, and won many film festivals around the world. It also won The Jan Karski Competition, a competition designed to recognize and award outstanding television documentaries produced on the theme of moral courage. School Prayer was produced by Log In Productions in association with The Independent Television Service, with additional support provided by the New York State Council on the Arts and the Soros Documentary Fund. Grunberg’s most recent film Fenceline: A Company Town Divided premiered on PBSin the POV season of 2002 and received, among others, an award at the 2002 San Francisco International Film Festivaland Vermont International Film Festival. Fenceline: A Company Town Divided also received a 2003 Environmental Media AssociationAward. This award was the first ever given in the documentary feature category. The EMA Awards honor film and television productions that increase public awareness of environmental problems and inspire personal action on these problems. A recipient of Guggenheim, New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), and Soros Justice Media Fellowships, Grunberg has received multiple grants from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Editors: Associate Producers: Funding for BORDERLINE was provided by: New York Foundation for the Arts Log In Productions, a professional film and video production company, was founded by Slawomir Grünberg in 1987. Based in Ithaca, NY, Log In Productions, with its state-of-the-art equipment and experienced personnel, has attracted television networks worldwide, including PBS (USA), HBO (USA), TVP (Poland), NHK (Japan), SWR (Germany), NOS (Holland) and Planete Cable (France). Log In has participated in such major television series as Frontline, NOVA, American Masters, The AIDS Quarterly with Peter Jennings, Inside Gorbachev's USSR with Hedrick Smith, The People's Century, and Lifetime's Intimate Portrait. For ordering information, please contact: |
year-old child. 
about how often individuals
with limited cognitive capacity sign false confessions and whether
these confessions, which are neither video nor audio taped, are enough
to warrant prosecution. The film focuses on the Baker family in order
to paint a more complete picture of Eunice's handicap, but viewers
are reminded by interviews with the victim's mother and foster parents
of the pain caused by the child's death. 