Athena Bester -A Time to Kill Response

Carl Lee Hailey is the father of Tanya Hailey, the young girl who is raped and almost killed by two white men. He shoots and kills the two men because of what they did to his daughter. He is arrested and tried for those murders, his case is a major milestone for the black community in the South, especially during that time period. Carl Lee Hailey teaches us that sometimes you must do something that is necessarily "wrong" to prove that it was done for a better cause. To look at Mr. Hailey from a law enforcement perspective, he could be seen as guilty by some and not guilty by others. For example, a defense attorney could say he's not guilty because he committed the crime in retaliation to his prepubescent daughter being brutally attacked. Now in terms of a police officer, it's the law to arrest him because he still did commit two murders, whether or not it was to avenge his daughter's purity. Carl Lee does and does not do a good job in representing justice in the film. Yes, it's against the law to rape and brutally assault someone, but it's still also illegal to murder as well. In Mr. Hailey eyes, he was getting justice for his daughter, but not everyone in a jury may think the same way because by killing someone who already committed a crime, the chance to try the original offender(s) is now gone. This film offers a good look into what our society is like today. It shows that some people can be tried for horrible crimes such a rape and only have to do a short sentence, whether that be because there's not enough proof or because that's just how the law is written. It also shows how someone can commit a capital offense, such as murder and be found innocent because it was due to insanity or in self defense. Our society definitely does have its good and "needs improvement" parts of the law. But if I were to have been on that Jury for Carl Lee Hailey, I would've made the same decision that the rest of them did.                                    

A time to kill movie response

Jake Brigance is a very important character in "A Time to Kill".  He represents Carl Lee Hailey in his murder trial of the two boys who raped his daughter. Brigance makes a big deal about this case because he feels guilty. Carl Lee told him that he was going to do something to those boys, and Brigance didn't call the sheriff about it. Brigance wants to prove that African Americans could not get a fair trial in the south, however in the end he disproved that himself. He teaches us a moral lesson by trying his hardest to get Hailey off, no matter what color his skin is. Everybody deserves justice, and should not be denied that right based on the color of their skin. Brigance never gave up, even when his family was threatened. He never gave up even when all his friends told him to quit. He believed in himself and he had the belief that he could get Carl Lee off, and show the world how people are being mistreated. From a law enforcement perspective Brigance serves as a defense attorney. He worked with a paralegal and his mentor to win this case. He tries to discredit the states witnesses, and he tries to get Carl Lee declared insane. If Carl Lee is declared insane then he may be able to get out of jail and spend time with his family. The purpose of the defense attorney is to discredit the states arguments and convince the jury that the defendant is not guilty. In this case most of the jury wanted Carl Lee to be executed. However in the end Brigance convinces them to plead not guilty with a very emotional speech. Brigance is a very good lawyer. He does everything he can to get his client out of jail, and he goes above and beyond for his client. He discredits the states psychiatrist, and he discredits the states arguments. Him and his team work around the clock to get Carl Lee out of jail, no matter what the consequences are. The film is fairly accurate when it comes to law and order in our society. Even though we are not segregated anymore like the characters in the movie, African Americans are still treated differently in the criminal justice system. It has been proven that people who live in a poor economic neighborhood, are African American, and repeat offenders get harsher sentences than everybody else. Their are disparities in our current s criminal justice system. Disparities similar to those in the movie. The law and order side of the movie was very accurate. In modern day society witnesses and professionals are discredited to win the case. Lawyers go to great depths to find the information they need to discredit these people. Ehich is exactly what happened in the movie. Sometimes in big trials there may be rioting, but only when there is a bigger issue at hand. That is what happened in the movie. Carl Lees community and supporters of African American rights pleaded for him to be set free, and white supremacists and other supporters wanted Carl Lee to be killed. Overall this movie was very accurate when it comes to the criminal justice system, and the problems in the south at the time.

Stephane Ydora Surpris

Backdraft had a really big impact on relationships like marriages, siblings and even other firefighters in the job. This job can determine the end of your marriage if you have a wife like Steven MCcaffrey’s wife, Helen who is afraid of one day, she is going to receive a call from someone saying that her husband is dead. Steven is a lieutenant just like his father and he is in charge of every fire. He’s always in front of every fire, fighting them. So the wife who has a little son, knowing that can happen anytime ask him to move out and stop their marriage. It also has an impact of the relationship of the 2 brothers, Brian and Steven, both of them trying to live up to their dad legendary memory. Although they don’t have the perfect brother relationship but when it comes to serious problems they really care and love each other because they know how difficult the job is and their father died doing the same thing, which is fighting fires. They looked out for each other and tried to protect each other in the job. All the firefighters live like real brothers, only them know how difficult their job and only them can help each other out. The firefighting profession is a really big impact in any firefighter lives.

The Portrayal of firefighters in this film is realistic because there is a real firefighter who has lost brothers or a father or another family member in real fires and has lived through a REAL backdraft, it's not all fun and games, and it's far from glamorous. This movie captures some of the emotions that flow through every firehouse in America today, firefighters live in that concept of brotherhoods in which the "I go---we go" mentality is a very real and they live through that everyday. And i'm not saying that there aren’t any corrupted politicians but but it's far from commonplace and was just to enhance the film and give you a person to "hate".

Brian MCcaffery saw his father died in front of him while his father was trying to put out a fire. He has an older brother named Steven who also became a lieutenant just like his father. Brian who had experienced such tragedy and who also wants to live up to his father legendary memory also became a firefighter. While he was in the academy, he had quit twice but always come back. He helped and was assistant of an arson investigator to determine the causes and who was behind all the fires. The moral lesson I got from this film is when it's in your blood to be something and you know that you’re trying to make someone proud, even you quit a lot of times, you always going to end up doing the same thing until you take a decision to stay forever. This character perspective was to show you how firefighters job looks like and sometimes it can get so hard that you want to quit but when you realize that is what you want and love, you always come back to it. Brian and his brother represent honor because they saved people's lives and fulfill the requirements of a firefighter. We need firefighters in our society and it’s really hard to live to live without them, kno
wing that they cared and their goal is save people in

their community and help as much as they can.