| SNITCH Written, Produced and Directed by Ofra Bikel FRONTLINE investigates how a fundamental shift in the country's anti-drug laws--including federal mandatory minimum sentencing and conspiracy provisions--has bred a culture of snitching that is in many cases rewarding the guiltiest and punishing the less guilty. The programs looks at several unsettling cases in which drug war prosecutors go after small fish --drug dealers' mothers, cousins, even lawyers--either to pressure them into testifying or because the big fish snitched first. Although informants have become a lynchpin in prosecuting federal drug-trafficking cases, defenders of the current system argue it is a proper and necessary strategy in fighting the war on drugs. But critics interviewed, including one Supreme Court Justice, charge the system is perverting justice. FRONTLINE #1709 Air Date: January 12, 1999 Run time 60 minutes VHS /DVD |
