The teleplay by Jonathan Estrin is based on a true story and focuses on the aftermath of a crime in which three white men from the small town of Jasper, Texas, killed African American James Byrd Jr. by dragging him behind their pickup truck.

In Jasper, Texas, in June 1998, three self-proclaimed white supremacists chain James Byrd Jr., to the back of their pickup truck and drag him to his death over three miles of country road.

Jonathan Storm of The Philadelphia Inquirer found it worthy, especially praised and said, "Gossett is barely recognizable as the lean, wizened Mayor O.C.

"[1] John Leonard of New York wrote, "What distinguishes Jasper, Texas is not inside info...not suspense...and not catharsis...It is performance.

"[2] David Wiegand of the San Francisco Chronicle said, "There's nothing fatally wrong with the film, but the muddled, overstuffed script and sometimes cheesy direction short-circuit the emotional potential of the treatment of James Byrd Jr.'s brutal dragging death five years ago in a small Texas town .

"[4] Sam Adams of Philadelphia City Paper thought the film was "a standard-issue docudrama whose pat resolution doesn't dredge up anything like the national horror of Byrd's murder.