TY  - GEN
N2  - In 1960, Fred Arispe Cruz, a young man from San Antonio, Texas, was arrested for robbery, convicted and sent to a state prison farm to pick cotton. Inspired by the civil rights movement, Cruz, a Mexican American with only an 8th grade education, became jailhouse lawyer-- writ writer in prison parlance-- and the catalyst of prison reform in Texas. Because he helped other prisoners with lawsuits, the Texas Department of Corrections classified Cruz as an agitator, transferred him to the Ellis Unit "the Alcatraz of Texas," and subjected him to long periods in solitary confinement. Cruz filed a case against George Beto, director of the TDC, which Cruz won in the Supreme Court. This led directly to the 1974 class action suit that found the TDC system unconstitutional. As told by wardens, convicts, and former prisoners who knew him, the film weaves contemporary and archival film footage to evoke the fascinating transformation of Fred Cruz from prisoner to activist, and a prison system still haunted by its past.
AB  - In 1960, Fred Arispe Cruz, a young man from San Antonio, Texas, was arrested for robbery, convicted and sent to a state prison farm to pick cotton. Inspired by the civil rights movement, Cruz, a Mexican American with only an 8th grade education, became jailhouse lawyer-- writ writer in prison parlance-- and the catalyst of prison reform in Texas. Because he helped other prisoners with lawsuits, the Texas Department of Corrections classified Cruz as an agitator, transferred him to the Ellis Unit "the Alcatraz of Texas," and subjected him to long periods in solitary confinement. Cruz filed a case against George Beto, director of the TDC, which Cruz won in the Supreme Court. This led directly to the 1974 class action suit that found the TDC system unconstitutional. As told by wardens, convicts, and former prisoners who knew him, the film weaves contemporary and archival film footage to evoke the fascinating transformation of Fred Cruz from prisoner to activist, and a prison system still haunted by its past.
T1  - Writ writer
DA  - c2008.
CY  - [Harriman, N.Y.] :
AU  - Mason, Susanne.
AU  - Gilb, Dagoberto,
AU  - Borrego, Jesse,
AU  - Lewis, Deborah Eve.
AU  - Rhodes, Gabe.
AU  - Guzman, Joel.
AU  - Turner, William Bennett.
CN  - HV8658.C7
CN  - HV8658.C7
PB  - New Day Films,
PP  - [Harriman, N.Y.] :
LA  - Closed-captioned.
PY  - c2008.
N1  - "The narration of this film was adapted [by Dagoberto Gilb] from the writings and testimony of Fred Arispe Cruz"--End credits.
N1  - Documentary originally produced in 2007.
ID  - 467040
KW  - Prisoners
KW  - Prisoners
KW  - Prisoners
KW  - Prisoners
KW  - Prisons
KW  - Hispanic American prisoners
KW  - Criminal justice, Administration of
KW  - Prisoners
KW  - Prisons
KW  - Imprisonment
SN  - 9781574482331
SN  - 1574482335
TI  - Writ writer
LK  - http://www.writwritermovie.com/
LK  - http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/writwriter/film.html
UR  - http://www.writwritermovie.com/
UR  - http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/writwriter/film.html
ER  -