American Justice on Trial is a short documentary film about the death penalty case that put racism on trial in a U.S. courtroom in the fall of 1968. Black Panther Party co-founder Huey P. Newton was accused of killing one white policeman and wounding another after a pre-dawn car stop in Oakland, CA. Filmmakers Andrew Abrahams and Herb Ferrette use rich period footage and interviews to tell the story of the trial, which took place at a time when tensions in America were running high following the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy earlier that same year. At his trial, Newton and his maverick defense team made unprecedented challenges to structural racism in the jury selection process. The result was a groundbreaking diverse jury headed by pioneering Black foreman David Harper, and a shocking verdict that still reverberates today.
The Jonathan Logan Family Foundation provided support for production of the film, as well as its impact campaign. American Justice on Trial had its world premiere at the San Francisco International Film Festival in April 2022. Check out the trailer below.
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