Court TV: New Filmmakers

Although Court TV Chairman Henry Schleiff admits “the last thing the world generally needs is another television movie,” that hasn’t stopped the cable channel from diving into the movie business with its first production, “Guilt by Association,” which premieres tonight.

Still, Schleiff hopes that Court TV’s movies--the network plans to produce two to four a year--won’t be typical legal fodder. “We wanted to do movies that were important,” he said, “as opposed to just another movie about a lawyer or client in jeopardy.”

“Guilt by Association” focuses on the issue of mandatory minimum sentence laws. Established in 1986, these laws were meant to combat the drug epidemic and keep drug dealers and traffickers off the streets.

Critics, though, believe that the laws more often than not dole out the most severe punishment to people who have little involvement in drug trafficking and dealing. Since their inception, women--especially those brought into the business by husbands, boyfriends and sons--have been hardest hit with mandatory minimum sentences.

Mercedes Ruehl plays Susan--a law-abiding lower-middle class widow with two young children. She adores her new boyfriend (Alex Carter) and even turns a blind eye to his pot smoking, telling him not to light up in front of her kids.

After realizing that her boyfriend and several of his cronies are dealing drugs, however, she breaks off their relationship. When her boyfriend and friends are arrested, Susan is convicted as part of their conspiracy and sent to prison. Once incarcerated, Susan begins her fight to win her freedom and clear her name.

Ruehl, an Oscar winner for 1991’s “The Fisher King,” first learned of the mandatory minimum sentence controversy on a TV news report about a year before she received the script for “Guilt by Association.”

“It was a news story about a woman who was either dating or married to a guy who was dealing drugs,” the actress said. “She had absolutely no idea of the magnitude because he was also a lawyer and a businessman. Suddenly, they all get arrested--this whole conspiracy thing is slapped on them.”

Many of those arrested have their sentences commuted down if they name names. But as with Ruehl’s character in the movie, women frequently have no names to give the government. So these women generally receive full sentences.

As for the women serving mandatory minimum sentences, Ruehl said, “Not all of them are squeaky-clean innocents. Probably very few of them are totally innocent. But I would say probably a vast percentage of them don’t deserve the time they are serving.... I don’t think anybody that I know who saw a boyfriend smoking pot at a party would get on the phone and call in the authorities.”

Executive producer Anne Carlucci (“The Burning Bed”) became more incensed about the law when she read the stories of various women who were given mandatory minimum sentences.

“What came to me is that they are not jailing the Carmela Sopranos of the world,” she said, referring to the wife of a Mafia boss on the HBO series “The Sopranos.” “What is the difference? Their husbands are part of organized crime. These women know a lot more than the character Mercedes plays knew. It is just a grossly unjust law.”

When these women are sentenced, Carlucci said, “the whole family goes to prison as much as the mother. They suffer. It’s so sad. It’s really sad. Here [in the movie], the family is torn apart. If Susan didn’t have a sister, her children would be in foster care, and who knows what their lives would be like.”

The majority of Americans, Carlucci added, still believe that the innocent “will be found innocent if you simply tell the truth. It’s absolutely not true. You need to get a lawyer. You need to get a tough lawyer. You need to spend a fortune to save your life.”

The producers of “Guilt by Association” also sought a degree of authenticity by shooting the film at a men’s prison in Toronto. “It has been my experience of making movies and working with actors, the closer you get to the real thing the more it impacts,” Carlucci said. “Actors are like sponges. The environment is very important.”

Ruehl agreed, saying that making the film was an education for her “because we worked in the prison for so long. It was a profoundly depressing place. It kind of redefined the term ‘helplessness’ to me. I don’t believe we have to go any place for hell or purgatory. It’s right here.”

“Guilt by Association” can be seen tonight at 9 on Court TV. The network has rated the movie TV-14 (may be unsuitable for children under 14).