• Home
  • News
  • Top Picks
    • Movies & Films: Top 25
    • Documentaries: Top 25
    • Films For Students: Top 10
    • Music Videos: Top 10
  • Categories
    • Film
    • Documentary
    • Shorts
    • Blog
    • Calendar
    • Links
    • About

Miss Liberty's Film & Documentary World

Libertarian Movies, Films & Documentaries

The Child Terror (1998)

Tagged: Abuse of power, Law & liberty

In the course of crusading against child molesters, Janet Reno undermines the justice system. [ The Child Terror credits: Producers: Michael Kirk, Rick Young/ Journalist: Peter J. Boyer/ 60 min/ Documentary-Educational/ Bureaucratic Abuse of Power-Excessive Force, Law & the Individual]
No trailer available.  For more information, see homepage.

bfijnjeLong before Janet Reno ordered the bloody raid at Waco “in the name of the children,” she had been at the forefront of another “pro-child” terror. That little-known story is told in this terrific PBS Frontline documentary.

The story begins in the early 1980s, when the nation was stunned by a rash of child-molestation accusations fanned by a media frenzy on the subject. Despite the frequency of the accusations, skeptical juries were hesitant to convict because the charges were generally uncorroborated by physical evidence or adult witnesses. Enter Janet Reno, then chief prosecutor in Miami. As told here, she decided to bend the rules to make convictions easier.

“A must-see for anyone concerned about corruption of the U.S. judicial system.”

The accused would no longer be entitled to face the accuser, a right guaranteed by the Constitution; nor would direct cross-examination be possible. Instead, the alleged victims of abuse would be interviewed on videotape by “experts,” who would then present the videotaped evidence in court on their behalf. The method worked. It was so successful in producing convictions that it became a model for prosecutors around the country. Reno became a hero to some, and gained a national reputation that would eventually catapult her into the job of U.S. Attorney General.

However, the tide finally turned against this method, with the case of Bobby Fijnje. Fijnje’s particular nightmare at Reno’s hands is presented in some detail in this film. He was a student babysitter at a church day-care center. In response to an accusation of child molestation made against him, he was arrested and put on trial. Though only fourteen years old, Reno had him tried as an adult (he was warned that, if convicted, he would be “on every inmate’s dance card”). He faced the possibility of seven mandatory life terms.

Per the Reno method, Fijnje’s alleged victims were interviewed on videotape. Coached by “experts,” they gave the usual damaging evidence. However, Fijnje was lucky. The trial took two years, and by that time the public was beginning to question the likelihood of rampant child molestation—particularly when, as in Fijnje’s case, it allegedly included ritual animal sacrifice. The jury cleared him on all charges. Subsequently, many of Reno’s earlier convictions were quietly overturned on appeal, thanks to the work of a few heroic civil rights lawyers including one interviewed here, Robert Rosenthal. Says Rosenthal, “When I see the state doing what they do in these cases, that’s where my rage builds. The arrogance … how they take the Constitution and throw it out the window so [they] can get this guy.”

Since the Fijnje case, the Reno method itself has also been discredited, and it’s easy to see why. Some of the actual video of children being coached is shown in this film, and it’s shocking to see. Children are manipulated into making charges through a battery of repeated leading questions. In some cases, children who insist that they were not molested at all are simply questioned over and over again, until they say that they were. As a child psychologist who reviewed the videotaped interviews says here, “They were quite problematic interviews, every single one of the tapes that I saw. I sit and look at it as a researcher and I cringe!”

The Child Terror is a very well-organized and persuasive documentary. It’s a must-see for anyone concerned about corruption of the U.S. judicial system.

How to See It

YouTube Video Search
Online Video Search
PBS Frontline: The Child Terror

Links

Official Homepage
IMDB

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Related

Subscribe to our new Substack for updates!

Featured Post

police

How To Talk To Police: Four Instructional Films

Most people are afraid of the police, for two reasons. First, while the vast majority of cops are doing their job in the most fair-minded way they can, there are actual bad cops and it's very hard for even a well-managed police force to get rid of them. This is because police are almost always unionized … Continue Reading

pad man

Pad Man | Film Review

An heroic and independent entrepreneur creates a low-cost sanitary pad for the world’s poor, but must overcome cultural shame associated with menstruation to get his invention accepted. Based on a true story. [ Pad Man credits: Dir: R. Balki/ Akshay Kumar, Radhika Apte, Sonam Kapoor/ 140 min/ Biography, … Continue Reading

victimless crime spree

Derrick J’s Victimless Crime Spree (2012)

WINNER: TOP 25 LIBERTARIAN DOCUMENTARIES Libertarian activist Derrick J. Freeman chronicles his arrest and incarceration for five "crimes" -- videoing police, dancing in a public place, smoking cannabis, wearing a hat in court, and riding a bike -- in a civil disobedience spree that demonstrates just how … Continue Reading

Themes

Abuse of power American revolution Anti-draft Anti-regulation Anti-slavery Anti-socialism Anti-taxation Anti-war Ayn Rand Corrupt government Creator as hero Democide Econ 101 Eminent domain Equality & law Escape from socialism Freedom of speech Free press as hero Government as bigot Government as torturer Government enforced morality Government healthcare Government schools Incompetent government Individualism John Stossel Law & liberty Legalize Drugs Libertarian heroes Libertarianism 101 Power corrupts Power worship Pro-capitalism Pro-immigration Propaganda Psychiatric coercion Resistance to tyranny Right to secede Search & seizure Second amendment Sexual liberty Social tolerance Unions & monopolies Voluntarism Working for government

Genres/Categories

Action-Adventure Animated Biography Blog Comedy Documentary Drama Family Featured Film Foreign History Horror Music-Dance Netflix News Romance SciFi-Fantasy Shorts Thriller Upcoming Western

About Miss Liberty

This site is a collection of films and documentaries of particular interest to libertarians (and those interested in libertarianism). It began as a book, Miss Liberty’s Guide to Film: Movies for the Libertarian Millennium, where many of the recommended films were first reviewed. The current collection has grown to now more than double the number in that original list, and it’s growing still.

  • RSS

© 2023 Miss Liberty's Film & Documentary World. All Rights Reserved

 

Loading Comments...