District of Second Chances

District of Second Chances follows Anthony “Pete” Petty, Gene Downing, and Colie Levar Long — three men given life sentences in their youth during the Clinton-era “super-predator” hysteria. Under Washington D.C.’s Incarceration Reduction Amendment Act, each now faces the possibility of release. The film traces their individual journeys: Pete rebuilding life after three decades inside, Gene hoping to reunite with a daughter born during his incarceration, and Colie mentoring fellow incarcerated youth while awaiting his own hearing. Together, their stories expose the generational damage of extreme sentencing on Black and brown communities — and make the case for why second chance reform, now spreading across the U.S., may be one of the most important justice movements of our time.