Why was the death of Len Bias as shown in “Without Bias” so important in a legal sense?
‘Without Bias’: Basketball Career Cut Short Still Resonates Today Posted Oct 28, 2009 9:00AM By Michael David Smith Len Bias has now been dead longer than he was alive, and yet his life and death don’t feel like an old story in Without Bias, the documentary that will debut on ESPN on Tuesday. Instead, the story of Bias, who died of a cocaine overdose at age 22 less than 48 hours after being drafted by the Boston Celtics, feels like something that is still unfolding. That’s largely because the documentary, directed by Kirk Fraser, relies so heavily on contemporary interviews with the people who knew Bias — including his mother, father and siblings, and the friend, Brian Tribble, who was with Bias the night he died. Without Bias takes a long view of who Len Bias was and how his shocking death changed America. And make no mistake, it did change the country: Bias’s death was used to justify harsh prison sentences for drug users, as bills known as “Len Bias Laws” were passed in Congress an
Len Bias has now been dead longer than he was alive, and yet his life and death don’t feel like an old story in Without Bias, the documentary that will debut on ESPN on Tuesday. Instead, the story of Bias, who died of a cocaine overdose at age 22 less than 48 hours after being drafted by the Boston Celtics, feels like something that is still unfolding. And make no mistake, it did change the country: Bias’s death was used to justify harsh prison sentences for drug users, as bills known as “Len Bias Laws” were passed in Congress and in many state legislatures. Without Bias suggests that the desire to do something to react to Bias’s death resulted in bad public policy. Sources: http://backporch.fanhouse.
