American Violence

- Margaret.

What the hell am i

supposed to do with this?

- Doctor's orders, honey.

No staturated fat.

- Ma'am, that doctor is a hack.

And he's pathetic.

He shouldn't even

have a license.

Stop listening to the doctor.

Jesus.

You give me bread?

First of all it's not toasted,

second of all it's peanut

butter without any jam.

How do you expect me to

swallow this or get it down?

How many goddamn times do

i have to tell you that?

Get your nose out of a

cookbook and learn to make

a peanut butter

and jelly sandwich.

- Keep talking like that

and you'll be making

your own sandwiches.

- What did you say?

What was that?

- According to the global

health education consortium,

there are numerous social

causes for violence.

Poverty, unemployment,

illicit drug and alcohol

abuse, cultural norms.

But these external influences

don't explain the root

cause of violence.

Texas versus Johnson.

Ed Johnson was charged

with first degree murder

after the deaths of

his ex-girlfriend

and a boy she was seeing.

Because of the

heinousness of the crimes,

and the ages of the victims,

the prosecutors wanted to

push for the death penalty.

But because ed was a few

months shy of turning 18,

the judge balked.

He was released after

serving only five years,

for good behavior.

One week after being paroled,

ed was pulled over for

a routine traffic stop.

And the police found

the severed head

of a nine year old

little girl in his trunk.

Because of this new discovery,

ed was sentenced to death.

Had the state sentenced him

after the first violent act

where two innocent

lives were lost,

that little girl

would've been spared.

The most interesting part,

is according to his records,

there was no history

of mental illness

or neurological diseases.

So was he born violent?

Ask yourself that.

Now, without understanding

where violence originates,

it's impossible to rehabilitate,

let alone prevent

future violent acts.

- Well what if violence is

so ingrained to our society,

our American culture...

- excuse me, sir.

- That outbursts are inevitable?

There's no escaping it.

- I refuse to believe that

we're far from stopping

the epidemic of violence

sweeping through our country.

- Even with a system in place

that just trades

death for death?

- Okay, so are controlled

executions an act of violence?

Or an act of mercy for the

loved ones of the victims?

- Isn't the act of

killing always violent?

- Is it?

I want you guys to think about

that when you pick a case.

Look for the hidden motives,

and clues that were missed.

And had they not been missed,

would the tragedy

have been prevented?

And remember to be objective.

That is the key

to get an accurate

and impartial read on

the situation, okay?

Class dismissed.

And you are?

- Ben woods.

Assistant district attorney.

I'd like for you to

consult on a case for me.

His name is Jack shea, he's

set for execution in 72 hours.

With it being an election year,

the governor's

under extra pressure

to reevaluate the state's

position on capital punishment.

- Well the nuances of the law

aren't exactly my specialty...

- I'm not here for

legal advice, miss...

- doctor.

- Doctor, pardon.

Now you've watched the news,

national focus was

on the protests,

it's got the governor

backed into a corner.

Now if this execution

goes forward,

our schedule, without

an official review,

the governor won't stand a

chance of serving another term.

I just want you to

talk to him, hm?

Give him your

professional opinion.

Consider it your civic duty.

Maybe, just maybe,

you'll save a life.

My card and my

number's in there.

- Hey, quick

monkeying around, garimba.

- Well maybe if

you stopped lion around, Leo.

Get up, lazy bones, it's

time for adventuring.

- Mommy!

- Hi, baby girl.

Shouldn't you be in bed?

- Grandma said I could watch

one more show on TV before bed.

- She did now, huh?

- Yep, all the

animals on this show

live together at the zoo.

- Aw.

- Can we go to the zoo, mommy?

- Well I tell you what.

How about you go upstairs,

brush your teeth,

and you be a good girl

for grandma all week,

and then I will take

you next weekend, okay?

Go on up, brush your teeth

and I'll tuck you in.

- Can grandma read

me a story first?

Please, please please?

- I think I can manage that.

- Come on, grandma, let's go.

- Thanks, mom.

- No problem.

Oh, I left you some

dinner by the stove.

- Thank you.

- Good night, mommy, I love you.

- Good night, I love you.

- I thought you quit

three months ago.

Ally was bummed that

you didn't make dinner.

- I know she was.

You know, I just

couldn't get here.

But thank you for picking

her up from school today.

- It's no problem.

Come here.

- Thank you.

- Don't stay up too late, kiddo.

- I won't.

Good night, mom.

- Good night, sweetheart.

- Ben woods.

- Hey Ben, it's Dr. Tyler.

- Dr. Tyler.

- I'm in.

I'll do it.

I have a few conditions.

Our session needs to be private,

so I don't wanna be in a

standard interview room.

We should be somewhere

where he feels comfortable,

where he can at

least move around.

I mean we're not

gonna get anywhere

if I can't earn his trust.

- Ma'am.

- Thank you.

- Tick tock.

Tick, tock.

You need a hand with that, doc?

- I prefer to be addressed

as Dr. Tyler or Amanda.

Have a seat, please.

State your name for the record.

- Jackson Michael shea.

- Inmate 78011.

- There's a point to

all this, right doc?

Seeing as how the

sand of my hourglass

has just about run out.

I don't see this

benefiting me very much.

- My plan is to get

to the root cause

of your excessive violence.

- You mean the newspaper

and magazine stories

calling me a monster.

- I've read your file.

- And what?

You've read some papers.

Some file a prison hack too

stupid to make it on the outside

wrote about me after he

showed me some inkblots.

You read that sh*t and

think you're inside my head?

Doc, you don't know a

f***ing thing about me.

- You're right, Jack.

I don't know a f***ing

thing about you.

And if I did, I wouldn't be

here wasting my time, or yours.

Would you like me to leave?

- Tick, tock.

Tick, tock, tick, tick.

So what's a pretty little

thing like you doing here?

You draw the short straw?

- It's about the violence, Jack.

If I can pinpoint the

time, the place, the cause,

then maybe I can at least

help stop the cycle.

Now we have some very important

decisions to make, don't we?

Let's start...

- with my mother's tit milk.

Did I get enough as an infant

to properly nourish me for

life in civilized society?

- Did you?

- Tick.

Doc, you ready to hear a story?

Tick, tock.

Tick, tock.

Tick, tock.

It was the summer of '85.

We had no money, so we had to

move into my uncle

Mike's single wide.

Sometimes, when I close my eyes,

I can still smell

that musty trailer.

- Bigger bears try to pretend

that they came 'round the

corner to look for a friend.

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