Justice, USA

This is NOT a "360-degree view of the criminal justice system."

This is a look at very specific criminal cases - primarily the accused and their families and how they EMOTIONALLY deal with the justice system.

It's not about the justice system at all really. Imagine Yellowstone, being described as a "a 360° view of ranching" ... or Game of Thrones being tagged as a "360° view of dragons" .... sure you see ranching or dragons every once in a while, but that's not really what the show is about.

Seems they chose cases to follow where the accused (or producers) are trying to elicit sympathy more than anything.. thus making the series more about emotion than the justice system.

They should have at least chosen a case where the accused was inarguably guilty and perhaps not remorseful or even defiant.

Overall, this appears to focus a great deal on the juvenile justice system, although not exclusively. And it's REALLY pulling for some sort of compassionate response for the accused - in spite of them allegedly playing a part in killing others. Perhaps producers were hoping juveniles elicit more compassion than adults. While that may be deserving at times, the overall impression from the 4 episodes I watched is that.. they are all about family drama and emotional coping with an incarcerated family member or the emotional impact of being incarcerated, not the justice system at all. And victims.. victims are entirely ignored. I did not bother myself with the final 2 episodes, imagining them being no better.

There's VERY little detailing of crimes (save for a couple news-worthy juvenile incidents - which they had news footage for.. so why not use that??) There's is no detailing of police or arrest procedures, no detailing of court procedures, no detailing of bail or release procedures, no detailing of probation or parole procedures... At most there are some minor conversations with legal teams or probation officers, or statements from judges about the accused or the crimes, that's it.

They do follow 1 judge, for about 30 seconds every 20-30 minutes.. those segments seem like merely "filler" so they could loosely justify the use of the "360°" tag line.

This is an EMOTIONAL DOCUDRAMA.. about families and the accused and how they "feel" about dealing with the justice system, not the actual justice system itself.

The Justice system was Weak enough on Criminals before Obama and his Like began meddling with the Justice system, but now DA's and Parole boards are filled with Leftists who let Murderers out in 5 years on a life sentence. They Parade their Failed Families of these Criminals around insinuating they too are victims but often have numerous violent criminal backgrounds of their own. Criminal Family members Often touting and screaming at the Families of the Victims in Court as if they are responsible for their Violent Criminal Relatives actions. Total and complete break down of the Justice system and our Western Society.

I Do Not Care about the Criminals in any way, Only the Victims!.

As the commentator before me pointed out, this certainly isn't a 360°-degree study of the US justice system. The description is misleading and/or exaggerated; I don't know if a movie or series could even do a complete analysis of any social sphere, given their inherent complexities and intricacies.

But the previous commentator was also a wee bit overhasty, what with just two episodes out. So I want to give you a more thorough account.

While the show goes back to Juvie a lot, even in later episodes, this is not a bad thing: between normal teenage risk behaviour, serious and widespread juvenile delinquency and overcrowded prisons, this is a supremely relevant aspect, and one should want to know how the adults working in the system try to find solutions to it (two of which are prevention and rehabilitation).

But the show is quite balanced and nuanced in general; it has its casuistic approach, meaning it presents individual cases from a specific location which together form a fresco of the inner workings of the justice system, and which can to a certain extent be considered representative nationwide. Without going into detail, issues related to racism, classism, poverty, violence against women, ableism, mental disorder, drug abuse, trauma, education, etc are adressed, as is the question how they not only play a big role in the everyday life in society but also in the total institutions of the judicial apparatus.

Concerning the different defendants, the focus is less on whether they are guilty or innocent - I believe most are both - than on the fights they battle and the plights they go through inside the wheels of the system. On one thing though the show is very straightforward: they are clearly portraying these individuals as victims of said system, regardless of the (severity of the) crimes they committed. You may disagree, but knowing the dehumanizing side of prison, there's definitely some truth to it.

In conclusion, the series may not be 360°, but it is, in its own way, and as social commentary, pretty complete and quite insightful.