The State of Texas vs. Melissa

This is not only a good documentary but it depicts what is wrong with our justice system. The documentary is well made and paced for suspense as this is still going on.

This is an important film to watch for those dedicated to ending racism. Here is a well drawn portrait of a brown woman who suffered great harm, and is STILL suffering, at the hands of the State. We all need the facts of this case, and the hundreds or thousands of similar cases. Let's spread the word, take a stand against the wrong idea that skin color should decide the verdict. Skin color and financial standing. Well directed.

Tells a sad true story of one woman's bravery. Inspirational. The State of Texas needs to review and amend it's law by applying fair play principles. Melissa inspires us by her bravery in the face of an oppressive uncaring legal system based on a lack of fair play for poor people.

This film, about a disadvantaged woman wrongly accused of murdering her child and sentenced to death, paints a very different picture of her, her relationship with her children, and the. Circumstances surrounnding her daughter's death. It has been a factor in the public and legal support she has received nationwide, and contributed to the issuance of a stay of her execution in April, 2022.

Visuals and interviews with family and witness experts are good. Could have been edited much better, too stretched. Tediously too long. This documentary is about Melissa's innocence & poverty, NOT about the trial. Criminal DA prison should've been enough for mistrial. Maybe there will be a stay of execution due to Innocence Project. I recommend reading NYT & Texas Tribune for story instead of watching this movie. Some reviewers have given their personal opinion about Melissa's lifestyle, so here's mine. Poverty is not a reason to neglect your children, let abuse happen to them, use cocaine nor not take birth control. Abuse started when her mom ignored young Melissa saying been sexually hurt. 'She's a child, what does she know?' Violent circle could've been broken, Melissa wouldn't have had to escape marrying too young to two abusive men (neither of them interviewed or brought up in this movie).

Movie trying to right this injustice. Free Melissa! End the death penalty! This is a disgrace that for no crime , a mother will be killed by the state. Who are the haters who find this ok??

So much heart and pain went into making this documentary! You can see the emotions in everyone's faces, including the producer herself! This could happen to anyone, it's scary! Advocate for Melissa's freedom!

This film illustrates vividly another grotesque miscarriage of justice. Each aspect of Melissa's case is just as absurd as the one before it. From the DA using her case to manipulate the public into re-electing him(surprise surprise- THIS HAPPENS A LOT!) to having an ME that is known time and time again to rubber stamp what the state/"investigators" want and claims it is child abuse, meanwhile the most parsimonious answer to how Mariah died is not murder where evidence of that CANNOT be found literally anywhere else outside of what Norma Farley argued. It's hard to understand how people are calling the film biased when the film interviews people on both sides of the issue and puts forth the evidence that the audience can use to formulate their own judgement. In a way, the audience become the jury. Great film all around!

Regardless of your impression of the cinematic qualities of this documentary, it is worth your time. It was made out of a sense of urgency as the subject was facing a death penalty for a crime that her state couldn't prove she committed. Get uncomfortable and watch this. You may feel compelled to do something about injustice.

Melissa Lucio was not the first Hispanic woman to receive the death penalty in the state of Texas. Josefa "Chipita" Rodriguez was the first Hispanic woman to be sentenced to death and hung in Texas in 1863. Texas had been a state for 20-odd years. I believe that she probably did not brutalize her child. However, the child died from neglect. Involuntary manslaughter, perhaps? The documentary is poorly done.