Film
Diane Sawyer certainly had her work cutout for her going into this interview with Jaycee Dugard; after watching both parts of the interview, it was clear to me that Sawyer was not trying to force Jaycee into saying anything that she did not want to or even try to understand what Jaycee went through for eighteen years. During the beginning of the video, Sawyer said “You would never know how she [Jaycee] would survive”, proving the point that Sawyer can’t put her head around how Jaycee survived and stayed sane all those years. Because of this, Sawyer also never made comments such as “I understand” or “Other girls have gone through similar situations,” making the interview all about what Jaycee wanted to share about her own experience.
It was a smart decision by 20/20 to use a television journalist who was not only experienced but also female. Sawyer made many references to Jaycee’s book, a stolen life, which she often let Jaycee read during the interview, and many of Sawyers’ questions were based off of what Jaycee had already written in the book. Sawyer had to carefully choose her wording when interviewing Jaycee, so basing questions off of what Jaycee had already written was a smart choice to get Jaycee to open up. One part of the video where Sawyer had to be particularly careful of her wording was the part where Jaycee talked about her daughters. I think her daughters are perceived as a very controversial part of the case because the father, Philip Garrido, was Jaycee’s rapist. Many victims of rape find it hard to look at their children and not remember the horrors of what happened to them. Jaycee, on the other hand, did not see Garrido in her daughters at all and referred to Garrido as the girls’ father multiple times in the conversation. Sawyer didn’t impose her opinion at all but rather commented “I find it interesting that you call him [Garrido] their dad.” I found that quote very powerful as it prompted Jaycee to explain herself without being impolite or attacking on Sawyers’ part. Jaycee simply responded to this with, “He is what he is.” I could see some interviewers imposing their opinion on that topic, but Sawyer remained professional and clearly wanted Jaycee to feel that she was able to say anything without judgement.
One of the main themes throughout the video was the bond that Jaycee and her mother, Terry Probyn, had. With Sawyer being a female interviewer, I think that Jaycee was able to (somewhat) comfortably talk about her experience in a maternal environment that Sawyer illustrated as safe and loving. Jaycee often made comments about her mother being one of the only things that gave her hope during her time in captivity, and conversations with Probyn showed that she also never gave up hope that her baby would come home one day. Had the interviewer been a male, I think that conversations would have been very stale and not as emotional. Sawyer even got teary-eyed during some parts of the interview, showing how much she was invested into this case. When the male correspondent, Chris Cuomo, was shown on the video, he had much more of a judgmental feel about him and was never shown talking to Jaycee. Cuomo discussed the topic of how the parole officers failed to do their job saying, “the parole visits were epic failures.” He used a more demanding tone of voice focusing on the facts rather than emotion like Sawyer.
Towards the end of video, a special moment between Sawyer and Jaycee is shared; Jaycee gives Sawyer a pinecone necklace and tells Sawyer to “wear it with happiness.” The pinecone was another symbol of hope for Jaycee, and she uses the pinecone as a logo for her foundation. The moment showed how much Jaycee respected Sawyer and how close the interview made the two of them. Sawyer had me drawn into the interview from the beginning, and I thought she did an excellent job keeping her composure in such an inconsolable situation.
Complaint
The first part of the complaint document is the introduction in which a little bit of criminal background on Philip Garrido is shared. The introduction also addressed some of the mistakes made by parole officers and how often things went overlooked on Garrido before the the kidnapping of Jaycee Dugard even happened. These things include the sexual harassment charges made by co-workers at a nursing home and the fact that Garrido visited the workplace of his former rape victim.
The next part of the complaint, the parties, informs who the plaintiffs and defendants are. Plaintiffs- Jaycee individually and also as a guardian of her two daughters. Defendants- United States and essentially the parole officers but names were not given out; referred to as Does 1-50.
Jurisdiction and Venue is the next section of the complaint, and I believe that it is just stating the court has the authority to review the case.
The fourth section, Statement of Facts, goes more into detail of what was briefly said in the introduction. Parts A and B tell about Garrido’s criminal history of rape and kidnapping and also how long he spent time in prison and later got on parole. Parts C and D tell specifically about the kidnapping and torture of Jaycee and her daughters. Part E, the most crucial to the case, lists specific examples of the mistakes made by the parole officers while (supposedly) supervising Garrido.
The next section is the First Claim of Relief against the defendants for not looking into Garrido after such harassment charges were made on his parole.
The Second Claim of Relief is again against all defendants for not reaching a specific parole decision for Garrido.
The Third and Fourth Claims of Relief talk about the mental health negligence of Garrido including the conduction and treatment failures.
The last Claim of Relief is the negligence of parole officers to report their unusual findings of drugs abuse, mental health issues, and strange backyard sheds to proper authorities.
Journalism & Law 