Holden is just one of the 2.4 million people who was entrapped within the criminal justice system. After his release from prison he does all he can to make it in a world that does all it can to keep him “Locked Out.”
The systematic and state sanctioned disenfranchisement of people with criminal records creates second-class citizens, as people are stripped of their right to vote and their chance to challenge oppressive policies. Being excluded from access to public housing, educational loans and jobs makes bettering their lives an unattainable American Dream. Left with few alternatives, recidivism becomes the path of least resistance.
Human Pictures sees the war that is being waged on communities of color through an oppressive and profit driven apparatus of the prison industrial complex as the most pressing human rights crisis that the US is facing.
This short film is the first in a series of media projects probing deeper to expose these salient human rights abuses.
Please contact Human Pictures if you'd like to collaborate in a future project or for a complimentary high-resolution copy of this film to use in your advocacy.
Special thanks to Johnny Perez - Reentry advocate at the Urban Justice Center Mental Health Project - for bringing these issues to light.