First Degree

Two-time Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Roger Weisberg (Sound and Fury, Why Can't We Be a Family Again?) directed this intriguing documentary short on efforts by New York's notorious Sing Sing Prison to reduce recidivism through higher education. A primary force in this endeavor is Sean Pica, who first came to Sing Sing as a 16-year-old convict, earned his bachelor's degree while incarcerated and later returned to run the prison's education program in conjunction with Mercy College. Also interviewed is Jermaine Archer, a former drug dealer and convicted murderer who is banking on his degree to help facilitate a successful reintegration with the outside world. The film records a graduation ceremony within the prison, with legendary singer/actor Harry Belafonte serving as the commencement speaker, offering an upbeat pep talk for the unlikely student body. The documentary also details how the program provides job-hunting consultation involving work-appropriate clothing, resumé writing, and interview training (one graduate, Clarence Maclin, directly benefits from learning these skills, gaining work as a social worker counseling juvenile offenders). Most important here is the observation that investment in education proves to be cost-effective: recidivism among graduates of the Sing Sing program is miniscule. Unfortunately, funding for this type of program has been shrinking over the years while the U.S. prison population has been ballooning. A moving tribute to the power of education, this is highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)