THE BIG BLUE WALL OF SILENCE� JIM AVILA REPORTS ON OFF-DUTY COPS
WHO CROSS THE LINE, ON ABC NEWS' "20/20," FRIDAY, MAY 16
Plus: Deborah Roberts on the Controversial College Website Juicycampus.com;
John Qui�ones' Interview with Elissa Wall, the Woman Whose Testimony
Helped Put Polygamist Prophet Warren Jeffs in Prison
Could surveillance videos bring down the big blue wall of silence � the code infamous for protecting abusive police? As ABC News Senior Law and Justice Correspondent Jim Avila reports, like the criminals they're supposed to catch, some police officers themselves are now getting caught on camera, and others are breaking laws like drinking and driving without consequence. To get a first-hand look at drinking and driving among cops, "20/20," along with a civilian watchdog group called the Police Complaint Center, launched an investigation staking out police off-duty hangouts in Chicago. The report airs FRIDAY, MAY 16 (10:00-11:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.
Also: Juicycampus.com, a website where students can say anything about anybody with no consequences, has become the buzz on dozens of college campuses nationwide. From Princeton to Duke to Texas A&M, students have been trash-talking and even spreading rumors about their fellow students, using the site as a "virtual bathroom wall," and no topic is off limits. Is it entertaining or just a place to breed embarrassment and misery? Why is this legal? And what are some states doing to protect college kids? Deborah Roberts speaks to college co-eds whose lives have been affected by juicycampus.com, as well as experts on defamatory material posted online.
Plus: At the age of 14, Elissa Wall was plucked from her happy childhood in a polygamist home and thrust into wedlock with no choice but to accept and obey the command of her prophet, Warren Jeffs. Just a few years later, Wall was the main witness in the government's case against Jeffs, the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints. Today she candidly tells her story of struggle, betrayal and loss of childhood in her new memoir, Stolen Innocence. "I was trapped. I felt like I had nowhere to turn. And I � so bad � did not want to go through with this marriage," she tells John Qui�ones. "I felt honestly what it was like to die."
"20/20" is anchored by Elizabeth Vargas and John Stossel. David Sloan is executive producer.
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