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Woman featured in film ‘Conviction’ still helps wrongly accused prisoners

conviction

Catholic News Service

The Catholic woman whose efforts to free her wrongly imprisoned brother became the inspiration for the new motion picture “Conviction” still advocates for prisoners whenever she gets a chance.

waters Betty Anne Waters, who runs a bar in Bristol, R.I., got her high school diploma, a college degree and a law degree so she could represent her brother Kenny in the appeal of his murder conviction.

Speaking a mile a minute in a thick New England accent, she said she no longer practices law, but, “I help the New England Innocence Project with cases. And I go into New York to help change (criminal justice) policies and go to legislatures to get statutes changed and to get DNA preserved, and I speak against the death penalty.”

Waters started school part time in 1986, three years after her brother was convicted and while raising two young children. After getting a law degree 12 years later, DNA evidence helped her overturn Kenny’s conviction for murder and robbery. He was serving a life sentence

Secretariat

By Joseph McAleer
Catholic News Service

NEW YORK (CNS) -- Not many Hollywood films open by quoting the Book of Job on the grandeur of horses: "In frenzied excitement he eats up the ground; he paws fiercely, rejoicing in his strength, and charges into the fray, afraid of nothing, when the trumpet sounds." (Job 39: 21-24, New International Version).

secretary

But then, not many films are as exceptional as "Secretariat" (Disney), an exuberant and inspirational retelling of the real-life story of -- arguably -- the greatest racehorse of all time.

"Secretariat" is more than just a rousing sports movie. Much like "Seabiscuit," "Secretariat" explores the human dynamics surrounding the animal, extolling the importance of family and the virtues of perseverance and courage. Viewers of faith, moreover, will appreciate a strong undercurrent of religious fervor.

There's quite a saga behind the 1973 Triple Crown winner. Diane Lane plays Penny Tweedy, the nonequine lead. When her mother dies, and her father, Christopher (Scott Glenn), a prominent breeder, becomes incapacitated, Penny returns to her roots on a Virginia horse farm. Though proud and happy as a housewife, Penny rises to the defense of the failing business and assumes control.

Movie Review — Eat Pray Love

By John Mulderig
Catholic News Service

Many of the off-kilter values that characterize contemporary Western society are showcased in "Eat Pray Love" (Columbia), the fact-based narrative of one woman's yearlong globe-trotting quest for enlightenment and self-understanding.