September 4, 1992: An elderly woman in a small town in upstate New York reports an attempted rape by a young black man who cut his hand during the altercation. While looking for suspects, police contact officials at SUNY Oneonta, a nearby college, and a school administrator reacts by handing over a list of names and residences of 125 black male students. For the next several days, those students are tracked down and interrogated by various police departments under a presumption of guilty until proven innocent. This leads to the longest litigated civil rights case in American history. An emotional story of social justice, this unsettling documentary is also a cautionary tale of equal rights gone wrong that is relevant today more than ever.
Directed and Edited by Sean Gallagher
Presented by Jonathan Demme