Crime

Advocate of children's and women's rights, Sarah Buel. Nineteen years ago she struggled to put her life together after leaving an abusive marriage. After a short time on welfare, Buel began working full-time and taking undergraduate classes. In 1990, she graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School. Buel is the co-founder of the Massachusetts Domestic Violence Council and currently serves as juvenile prosecutor for the Norfolk County District Attorney's Office in Quincy, MA. She believes the entire community must take responsibility for domestic violence.

John Douglas, author and former FBI unit chief who originated the Unabomber profile talks about the 18-year manhunt for the Unabomber suspect. Douglas has published a new book, "Unabomber: on the trail of America's most wanted serial killer" (Pocket Books, a division of Simon & Schuster). His previous book is, "Mindhunter", a report on the criminal profiling program of the FBI's behavioral science unit.

Defense attorney Robert L. Shapiro. He put together the defense strategy and the team of high-profile attorneys who successfully defended O.J. Simpson. Eventually Shapiro was replaced by Johnny Cochran as lead attorney. And by the trial's end the team members were denouncing each other. Shapiro has written his memoir, "The Search for Justice: A Defense Attorney's Brief on the O.J. Simpson Case," (Time Warner, written with Larkin Warren).

Los Angeles prosecutor Christopher Darden. He'd been a Deputy District Attorney with the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office for fifteen years before being selected to be on the team that prosecuted O.J. Simpson. He's written his memoir, "In Contempt," (Regan Books, written with Jess Walter.

Amherst College professor Austin Sarat, a Ph.D. in political science with a law degree from Yale University, is teaching a course on Murder which is the most popular in the school's history--with one fifth of the entire student body enrolled. It breaks the record of a course on Human Sexuality offered in the 70's. The syllabus includes selections from literature, film, and television like "Crime and Punishment," and "Macbeth," as well as "Pulp Fiction," and "Psycho." (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Judge Harold J. Rothwax, author of "Guilty, The Collapse of Criminal Justice," (Random House). For twenty-five years he's been a judge on the New York State Supreme Court and has developed a reputation for tough rulings. He'll talk with Terry about his ideas for reform of the criminal justice system.

On November 11, 1994, Eddie Polec was clubbed to death in a Philadelphia suburb by a group of rival high school kids. He was clubbed with a baseball bat on the steps of the St Cecilia's Church where he had been an altar boy. Investigators say he was beaten until limp and then held aloft "to give the bat-wielding youths a better shot." He had been waiting for his young brother, to walk home together when the group of kids arrived, looking for a fight. Eddie hadn't been part of the rivalry. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

On November 11, 1994, Eddie Polec was clubbed to death in a Philadelphia suburb by a group of rival high school kids. He was clubbed with a baseball bat on the steps of the St Cecilia's Church where he had been an altar boy. Investigators say he was beaten until limp and then held aloft "to give the bat-wielding youths a better shot." He had been waiting for his young brother, to walk home together when the group of kids arrived, looking for a fight. Eddie hadn't been part of the rivalry. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Health care analyst and substance abuse expert Joseph Califano. He was LBJ's assistant for domestic affairs from 1959-65 and Secretary for Health, Education and Welfare under Jimmy Carter from 1977-79. Joseph Califano is also president of the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, a research and experimental care facility at Columbia University. (Interview by Barbara Bogaev)

Senior Editor at National Review, Richard Brookhiser. Recently the conservative magazine has come out in favor of some kind of drug legalization. Brookhiser is also a columnist for The New York Observer. (Interview by Barbara Bogaev)

Ethan Nadelmann, Director of The Lindesmith Center, a research center devoted to broadening the debate on drug policy, and looking at strategies that have been overlooked or ignored. (The Lindesmith Center is located in New York City, 212-887-0695) (Interview by Barbara Bogaev)

Sidney Jones, is regional director of Human Rights Watch in Asia. Recently Human Rights Watch published a report on abandoned children in China, and their treatment in China's state-funded orphanages, "Death by Default: A Policy of Fatal Neglect in China's State Orphanages." The report finds the death rate in the orphanages "staggering," and in some cases constitutes a sinister "systematic program of child elimination." (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane) f

British filmmaker Kate Blewett. Using a concealed camera, Blewett and crew visited eleven state-funded orphanages in China and filmed in nine of them. They documented such things as toddlers whose hands and legs were tied to potty chairs all day, and the rooms where children are left to die. They also say that many of the children were girls, victims of China's One Child Policy, and the Chinese tradition that favors sons over daughters. "The Dying Rooms: China's Darkest Secret" debuts on CINEMAX (Jan 24 at 8 PM). (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Computer security expert Tsutomu Shimomura and reporter John Markoff. Markoff writes about computers and technology for the New York Times. The two have collaborated on a new book, "Takedown: The Pursuit and Capture of Kevin Mitnick, America's Most Wanted Computer Outlaw-By the Man Who Did It." (Hyperion). Mitnick was the most wanted computer hacker in the world, having stolen thousands of data files, and 20,000 credit card numbers. For two years he had eluded the FBI. Mitnick broke into Shimomura's home computer, and Shimomura joined the search.

Actor/director/writer Sean Penn. The "reluctant actor" is starring in the new film "Dead Man Walking" directed by Tim Robbins, co-starring Susan Sarandon. (It's based on the book, of the same title, by Sister Helen Prejean). Penn has moved away from acting in favor of writing/directing: the 1991 film "The Indian Runner" which he wrote based on a Bruce Springsteen song, and last year's "The Crossing Guard" starring Angelica Huston and Jack Nicholson.

Tammy Schnitzer lives in Billings, Montana. She grew up there, as a Lutheran and married Brian Schnitzer, a Jew, and then converted to Judaism. They are the subject of a new PBS documentary "Not In Our Town," (December 17th, 10:30 p.m. EST) about how the community in 1993 rallied behind Schnitzer and her family when they were targets of hate crimes. The local newspaper printed full page menorahs and they were displayed in nearly 10,000 homes and businesses.

Former head of the FBI's Serial Crime Unit, John Douglas. For 20 years he investigated serial murders for the FBI, and developed techniques to get criminals to talk, and to lure them into capture. He also pioneered criminal profiling. Many of his techniques have been adopted by police departments and prosecutors nationwide. Douglas interviewed such notorious killers as Charles Manson and Richard Speck. He has a new memoir, Mind Hunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit (Lisa Drew book, written with Mark Olshaker).

Writer Yossi Klein Halevi is a senior writer for "The Jerusalem Report." He's the author of Memoirs of A Jewish Extremist: An American Story, (Little, Brown) which tells the story of his involvement with Jewish right-wing movements in the United States, and with the extremist rabbi Meir Kahane. Halevi eventually broke away from the movement.

Co-creator, executive producer and head writer of "NYPD Blue," David Milch, and Detective Bill Clark who is a consultant to the show. Clark is a former New York City homicide detective. Many of the story lines for the show, come from the cases he worked on. The two have collaborated on a new book, True Blue: The Real Stories Behind NYPD Blue (William Morrow).

Co-creator, executive producer and head writer of "NYPD Blue," David Milch, and Detective Bill Clark who is a consultant to the show. Clark is a former New York City homicide detective. Many of the story lines for the show, come from the cases he worked on. The two have collaborated on a new book, True Blue: The Real Stories Behind NYPD Blue (William Morrow).