8. "Just Cause" (1995)

"Every now and then, you have to get a little bloody. It's good for the soul."

(Kate Capshaw as Laurie Armstrong)

The Plot: Bobby Earl was convicted in 1986 of raping and killing Joanie Shriver in south Florida. At the beginning of the film, we see Earl arrested by a white officer, and subsequently beaten by him. Later in the interrogation, he was threatened by black sheriff Tanny Brown (Laurence Fishbourne). Eventually, Earl confesses to the crime and is convicted by an all-white jury and sentenced to death. Eight years later, Earl contacts Paul Armstrong (Sean Connery), who is vehemently anti-death penalty. Eventually Armstrong agrees to help Earl, who claims he was falsely convicted. Armstrong and his family go to Florida (where Armstrong's wife, Laurie [played by Kate Capshaw], has family) and Armstrong begins talking to everyone involved in the case. Very quickly, Armstrong can tell that the town does not want the case re-opened. Armstrong works to prove that Earl didn't commit the crime, and eventually does with the help of Earl's fellow inmate, serial killer Blair Sullivan (Ed Harris), who claims that he raped and killed the little girl. Armstrong goes to court and gets the clemency board to release Earl based on evidence that Sullivan was the real culprit (tape recorded conversation with Sullivan and a letter he wrote from prison to the Shriver family). During the investigation, the viewer learns that Armstrong's wife was the prosecutor in a kidnapping case in 1985 in which Earl was charged and the case went to trial, though it was later dismissed. Earl lost his scholarship to Cornell University because of the trial. After Earl is released from death row, he comes after Laurie Armstrong (and her daughter, Kate Armstrong), kidnapping them and taking them out into the swamp. Armstrong deduces that Bobby Earl did in fact rape and kill Joanie Shriver, but he had convinced Sullivan to take the heat for him so he could take care of "unfinished business." In return, Earl would kill Sullivan's parents (his unfinished business). With the help of Sheriff Brown, Armstrong manages to kill Earl before significant harm comes to his wife or daughter.

The Criminal Justice System: This film demonstrated two points. First, it exposed the racism that is prominent in this country, even in the 1980s. What happened to Bobby Earl in the beginning of the film likely wouldn't occur today because of videotaping and other surveillance measures in place in interrogation rooms across the country, but other tactics (like keeping them in an interrogation for 22 hours without food, water, or sleep) do still occur. Additionally, the racism of police and others in the criminal justice system still exists and can alter the outcome of a case, often leaving the defendant without recourse. A defendant is at the mercy of the courts once he or she has been convicted, hoping that a judge will agree that an all-white jury is contrary to due process, or that a coerced confession cannot be admitted into evidence. Second, the film exposed one of the difficulties people have with the death penalty: That you would execute an innocent man. In the same vein, the film also showed that sometimes, the system comes to the correct conclusion, even if the process was wrong. In this case, Bobby Earl was rightly convicted, but his case was handled very poorly.

In all, this film is very well done and a great look into the intricacies of the death penalty and the racism that still permeates our criminal justice system, even in 2011.

5. "The Presidio" (1988)

"Now are you sure you want to fight? Because I'm only going to use my thumb. My right thumb. Left one's much too powerful for you."

(Sean Connery as Lt. Colonel Alan Caldwell)

"The Presidio" is one of the few films that addresses the issue of military justice. It is a film in the early career of Mark Harmon, who later stars as Supervisory Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs in the CBS television show "NCIS," which is why I first watched this film a couple of years ago. The film did not win any major awards, but is a gem with a rockstar cast and a great story.

The Plot: "The Presidio" stars Mark Harmon as Detective Jay Austin of the San Francisco Police Department, who is investigating a series of inter-jurisdictional murders on the U.S. Army base, the Presidio, and the streets of San Francisco. He must work with Lt.-Colonel Caldwell (Sean Connery), who was Austin's boss (the provost marshal) when Austin was in the military police years ago. Caldwell took the side of a drunk driver, an officer named Lawrence, and demoted Austin, who left the military soon after. Caldwell's daughter, Donna (Meg Ryan), decides to start dating Austin at about the same time as the two men need to work together, which adds another thorn to the patch.

The History: The Presidio (also known as El Presidio Real de San Francisco) is a park on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula in California. It was a fortified location starting in 1776, when the Spanish used it as the military center of the area. It was passed to Mexico and finally to the United States in 1847. Congress voted in 1989 to end the Presidio's active military status and it was passed to the National Park Service in 1994.

From 1847 to 1989, the Presidio served as the primary military installation on the Pacific. It was the assembly point for Army forces invading the Philippines during the Spanish-American War and was the center of the defense of the western U.S. during World War II. The Letterman Army Medical Center was built on the Presidio in the 1890s and was featured in every major U.S. conflict in the 20th century by providing high-quality medical care. Two interesting facts: The Presidio contains one of the two remaining cemeteries in San Francisco city limits - the San Francisco National Cemetery - and the soldiers at the Presidio became the nation's first "park rangers" by patrolling the new Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks between 1890 and 1914.

The Criminal Justice System: The issue of jurisdictions is a complex one, as cooperation between cities, states and the federal government is notoriously bad. Adding in special jurisdictions like Native American reservations and the military only compound the problems. It is often difficult for the military and civilian investigative branches to cooperate, especially since they have differing codes of justice (the military uses the Uniform Code of Military Justice instead of the local, state or federal penal code). This film does an excellent job of emphasizing the difficulties that jurisdictions deal with, especially when working with the military (e.g. the fact that Austin cannot arrest Major Lawrence until he is off of The Presidio and on civilian jurisdiction).