Monday, 6 June 2011

'The Wire' creator hits out at Attorney General

Monday, June 6 2011, 10:32 BST David Simon, creator of 'The Wire'The creator of HBO drama The Wire has hit out at recent remarks made by US Attorney General Eric Holder.

Holder recently urged David Simon and co-producer Ed Burns to produce a sixth season of the acclaimed series, which ended in 2008.

However, in an email to The Times, Simon angrily criticised the US government for its "misguided" war on drugs.

"The Attorney-General's kind remarks are noted and appreciated," he wrote. "I've spoken to Ed Burns and we are prepared to go to work on season six of The Wire if the Department of Justice is equally ready to reconsider and address its continuing prosecution of our misguided, destructive and dehumanising drug prohibition."

Simon further claimed that the government's current anti-drug policies are "nothing more or less than a war on our underclass".

He continued: "[It is] succeeding only in transforming our democracy into the jailingest nation on the planet (sic)."

Simon's new HBO drama Treme, which examines the impact of Hurricane Katrina on the residents of New Orleans, was recently renewed for a third season.

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