The Next Step: An Abolitionist Gathering

Should our government sanction the death penalty? Is there ever a good reason to deliberately take human life? This documentary, filmed at a May 22, 1999, gathering at Woodcrest Bruderhof in Rifton, NY, raises such important issues. As one speaker in the film notes, over 3,500 people are waiting on death row, while over 1,500 murder convictions have been reversed since 1972. Unfortunately, The Next Step does a poor job of exploring these issues. Although supporters of the death penalty were apparently invited, they did not attend this conference, meaning that only one viewpoint is presented from speakers (many identified only by acronyms unfamiliar to most viewers) who vary enormously in the quality and relevance of their comments. Some statements are simply either ridiculous or obscure. Thus, we hear the Rev. Betty Patterson informing the audience that "people in the ghetto have just as much money as rich folks do, but they just don't know how to move it about, they just spend it all," and Rev. Kobutsu Malone of the Engaged Zen Foundation solemnly stating that "we are living in an environment of inter-being." The most effective speakers are two parents whose children were killed (one in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing) and who still oppose the death penalty. Between speakers, we see a labored dramatization of a man on death row, featuring rather wooden actors and a stereotyped hooded death figure who wanders by, complete with scythe. Not recommended. Aud: P. (M. Pendergrast)