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The 800,000 registered sex offenders in the United States live under a totalitarian regime. They are legally barred from living in large portions of the country and denied access to employment, housing, and public spaces. Their movements and even their thoughts are monitored and controlled by law enforcement officers. Their names and faces are reported to the public, and vigilante groups hound them out of their homes. They are considered by nearly everyone in America to be the worst and most dangerous creatures in the world.
Because the film Untouchable calls all this into question, film distributors and the media have considered it to be untouchable as well. In this episode of Unregistered, I talk to the film’s writer, director, and producer, David Feige, who decided to take on what he calls “the darkest part of the criminal justice system.” David formerly worked as a public defender in New York City. He is the author of the memoir, Indefensible: One Lawyer’s Journey into the Inferno of American Justice, and co-creator of the TNT legal drama Raising the Bar. He is also the co-founder and board chair of The Bronx Freedom Fund, the first charitable bail organization in New York State. Last year he won the Albert Maysles New Documentary Director Award for Untouchable at the Tribeca Film Festival.