How Do You Spell Murder?
The New Jersey State Prison in Trenton is the oldest continuously operating prison in America. Constructed in 1831, New Jersey State Prison is now a maximum-security prison for inmates serving long sentences. Half of the prisoners are convicted of murder, the average sentence is 50 years, and 75% of the inmates are illiterate. Yet many of these same men are achieving a measure of hope, a sense of personal freedom: they are finally learning how to read. HOW DO YOU SPELL MURDER? chronicles a year in the life of an inmate-run literacy program and explores the powerful connection between illiteracy and crime.
40 min. 2003
Literacy in Media Award