Attila Adam is a film maker in Los Angeles working on a short film on prisoner re-entry, June Gloom, in need of some angel support.  He had the good sense to ask Lawprof Doug Berman at  Sentencing Law & Policy if he would mention the project in the hope that someone might care and contribute.

Notably, for the seemingly bargain price of only a $500 supporting pledge, one can get executive producer credit on this film. I wonder if readers and regular commentors like Bill Otis or federalism or Supremacy Claus or others will be interested in having their names on the big screen. Better yet, perhaps readers can pool pledges and we can have this blog’s readers listed as a executive producer. Seems a small price to pay for a good cause and for having one’s name on a movie, no?

It hardly seems necessary to discuss why prisoner re-entry remains a huge problem, with budget shortfalls, offender registries and the societal rejection of the notion that any prisoner’s debt is ever repaid. 

But Doug does a very interesting thing, taking a good cause to a curious place.  For those who have so much to say, often strident and sometimes bizarre, let’s see if the strength of their convictions meets the depth of their wallet.

Here’s the shocking punch line:

Ever the interesting fellow, (in)famous regular commentor Supremacy Claus wrote to me to report that he was going to make a $500 pledge and was going to do so in my name so that I would get executive producer credit.  For this kind gesture (which is now reflected on this June Gloom blog), I am awed and grateful.  And I have now added another $100 pledge (and provided that the goodies that come with this pledge go to SC).

For those unaware, Supremacy Claus has been one of the louder, more outrageous commenters in the blawgosphere for a very long time.  He’s made his way around the blawgs, usually being quickly banned for his hatred of lawyers, judges and the legal system, which he argues is a vast conspiracy designed to subjugate the citizenry.  If I recall correctly, he lasted here about two days.

Berman, on the other hand, let SC have his moment in the sun and there he’s stayed, often to the chagrin of other commenters.  No doubt it’s been a disruptive experience, but Doug has been tolerant.  More so than anyone else.  And he’s now been rewarded with executive producer credit on Supremacy Claus’ dime.

While $500 doesn’t make inanity any less troubling, it does do one thing of worth.  It shows that as wacky as Supremacy Claus may be, he’s not just blowing smoke up the butt of the blawgosphere.  To his enormous credit, he’s put his money where his mouth is.  Not too many people around here do that.

Obviously, every reader isn’t in a position to kick in money every time a good cause comes around.  There are a lot of good causes, and not always a lot of money.  But then, for those who feel very strongly about something, so strongly that they can’t control themselves and must, absolutely must, speak their mind, the value of your beliefs would be greatly enhanced if there was more demonstrative evidence of your views.

Though I know not everyone is a huge fan of how Supremacy Claus sometimes seeks to take over the comment threads, I think everyone should be a huge fan of his efforts in this context. And if merely 1/10 of all the readers who dislike SC’s comments would simply make a pledge of 1/10 of what SC put up on my behalf, the June Gloom film would have extra resources for final production and promotion. (As I noted before, the  minimum pledge to support this project is a mere $10, and I hope a lot of readers might consider themselves able to pledge at least 2% of what Supremacy Claus put up.)

Hey, if SC can cough up $500 to make Doug Berman the executive producer, a 2% contribution wouldn’t break you.  Is it worth $10 (or more) to show that you’re not just tough talk?