White-Collar Crime

Documentary About Flawed, Troubling Criminal Prosecution Earns Oscar Nomination

Congratulations on this recognition for a film that conveys the ordeal of a criminal prosecution to audiences.

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Oscar nominations were announced this morning, and while most of the commentary about the list will deservedly focus on Daniel Day-Lewis and Meryl Streep going after their eleventy-billionth statuettes or Greta Gerwig and Jordan Peele receiving Best Director nominations or a superhero movie clawing its way into the Best Screenplay category, over here at Above the Law, there’s one nomination that warmed our hearts to see.

Abacus: Small Enough to Jail, is the tale of Manhattan DA Cy Vance’s dogged prosecution of a small, family-run bank serving the Chinese immigrant community for their “involvement” in the mortgage crisis while ignoring every major institution in lower Manhattan with billions wrapped up in the crisis. Which is weird because no one has ever thought Vance’s office had a history of arbitrarily looking away from wealthy targets.

We’ve discussed this documentary (and this case generally) and it’s encouraging to see investigative journalistic filmmaking about the all-too-opaque world of what drives criminal prosecutions get recognition.

If you haven’t seen this documentary yet, check it out here.

Earlier: ‘Small Enough To Jail’ Looks At The Only Bank Prosecuted Over The Housing Crisis

HeadshotJoe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.

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