In 2000, acting on a tip from an informant, police and sheriff's deputies conducted a massive raid on a housing project in Hearne, Texas. 27 people were arrested on drug charges, including Regina Kelly. Robertson County District Attorney John Paschall, portrayed in the movie as Calvin Beckett, offered each defendant a deal: plead guilty in exchange for ten years on felony probation.

Several people took the deal but Kelly and the others refused. Their cases became a civil lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, which showed that the informant had lied. Rather than risk a trial, Robertson County dropped the charges and payed each defendant a settlement.

BABJA hosted a screening of American Violet on April 27 in San Francisco. After the movie, BABJA membership committee chair Marcus Osborne and President Bob Butler talked to Kelly, portrayed in the movie as Dee Roberts by Nichole Beharie, about her experiences.