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Freedom Files EpisodesSeason Two

The Freedom Files television series draws on the power of true stories to highlight vital civil liberties issues of our time and inspire viewers to take action. These half-hour documentaries feature the firsthand accounts of real people who have taken on the powers that be, often at great risk to themselves, in order to preserve their precious constitutional rights.

The following is a list of Freedom Files Season Two Episodes:

Rights of ImmigrantsWATCH & TAKE ACTION

This episode puts a spotlight on ordinances that seek to curb illegal immigration in towns across America, and end up fostering a climate of xenophobic fear. By punishing landlords and business owners who rent to or employ undocumented immigrants, such ordinances violate the Constitution, which extends protections to all people in this country and makes the federal government responsible for regulating immigration. These initiatives have stoked the flames of anti-immigrant sentiment, and have led many people to leave the towns they once loved and helped to revitalize.

The Death PenaltyWATCH & TAKE ACTION

In this episode, compelling stories of people personally affected by America's capital punishment system offer a unique window into its unfairness and inhumanity. Their firsthand accounts show how the system executes people for crimes they didn't commit, sends mentally ill people who can't even recall their actions to their deaths, burdens the poor with abysmal legal counsel, and deprives people forever of an opportunity for redemption and reformation. "Freedom to Live" also demonstrates that when people get involved, lives can be saved.

SurveillanceWATCH & TAKE ACTION

This episode reveals how the federal government is turning the U.S. into a nation under surveillance. From warrantless wiretapping of phone calls and monitoring of emails to the creation of a national identity card, the government is using "national security" as a justification for encroaching on our right to privacy and freedoms of speech and association. But the initiatives are stirring intense opposition from many groups across the political spectrum.

Same-Sex CouplesWATCH & TAKE ACTION

This episode features three couples who are part of a lawsuit in Maryland seeking to overturn state law that bars lesbians and gay men from marriage. Despite being in committed relationships, they lack the hundreds of legal protections afforded to heterosexual married couples, and must worry about how to look after their families without these protections. In courageously taking their fight for civil liberties to the public arena, they seek to change a system that unfairly harms same-sex couples and their families.

Protecting the BallotWATCH & TAKE ACTION

This episode focuses on legislative efforts in Georgia and Texas to require voters to present photo IDs, though such rules would create barriers for low-income, elderly and disabled people, and disenfranchise millions. While supporters of photo IDs say the goal is to eliminate voter impersonation, such fraud is extremely rare. Freedom to Vote also looks at the sacrifices that have been made in our nation's history to ensure that all have equal access to the ballot box.

Lesbian & Gay FamiliesWATCH & TAKE ACTION

This episode shows how bans on adoptions and fostering by same-sex couples end up hurting thousands of children who are desperate for good homes. The program follows a bill in Arkansas aimed at preventing gay people and straight unmarried couples from fostering or adopting children. It also looks at the impact of a Florida law that prevents needy children from being adopted by loving gay families.

Sex EducationWATCH & TAKE ACTION

This episode shows how teenagers across the country are being kept in the dark about vital information that would help them prevent unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. In many abstinence-only-until-marriage programs, teenagers are told that birth control methods such as condoms do not work and that they will contract a deadly STD if they have sex outside marriage. Despite the fact that these programs have been proven ineffective, the federal government has spent more than a billion dollars on them since 1996.

Freedom from Abuse of PowerWATCH & TAKE ACTION

This episode shows how the U.S. government's use of torture, kidnapping and unlawful detention in the "war on terror" is undermining the foundations of our democracy. The program includes firsthand accounts by people arbitrarily detained at Guantanamo Bay and tortured in secret overseas prisons through the "extraordinary rendition" program. And Iraq War veterans who are outraged at the atrocities committed by the government explain why they're fighting on a new front—to protect our precious civil liberties.

School to Prison PipelineWATCH & TAKE ACTION

This episode explores the policies that push young people, especially youth of color, out of the educational system and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems. The "school to prison" pipeline gets created when trivial classroom misbehavior is criminalized, "problem" children are warehoused in substandard alternative programs, and kids in juvenile detention facilities are subjected to routine humiliations and deprived of quality education. "Freedom to Learn" maps out the different stages of the pipeline, and shows how individual children become trapped in it.

Watch season one episodes