American Violet is a new major motion picture based on the real life story of Regina Kelly, an African-American, single mother of four girls who was arrested in 2000 in a military-style drug raid triggered by untrustworthy informants.
Kelly refused to plead guilty and took her case to trial, where she was represented by Graham Boyd, a lawyer with the ACLU Drug Reform Project. Eventually, the charges against Kelly were dropped (as were the charges against most of the others arrested in the same drug raid due to the same informant’s lack of credibility). Yet, she was separated from her children while she was incarcerated, shamed in her small community by being labeled a drug dealer, fired from her job, and had difficulty obtaining employment thereafter; in short, her life was torn apart due to her arrest and her time in jail. The case resulted in a change in Texas law, whereby now, cases cannot be prosecuted based solely on the claims of a single informant.
Kelly’s on-screen character is named Dee Roberts (played by newcomer Nicole Beharie) and the ACLU lawyer in the film is played by Tim Blake Nelson. Alfre Woodard, Charles Dutton, Will Patton, Michael O’Keefe and Xzibit also star. The town of Melody and certain other characters and events are fictitious.
American Violet opens in theaters across theaters across the country on April 17. Visit http://www.americanviolet.com/ to watch a trailer, read more about Regina Kelly's case and learn how you can get involved in changing unjust sentencing laws and practices. The website links to FAMM and other organizations.