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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNYC’s $40M Central Park 5 Settlement Resolves Wrongful Jailing Fueled by Race-Baiting, Police Abuse
The City of New York has reportedly agreed to pay $40 million to five men wrongfully convicted of raping a female jogger in Central Park 25 years ago. The five black and Latino men were convicted as teenagers. They initially confessed, but soon they recanted, insisting they had admitted to the crime under the duress of exhaustion and coercion from police officers. Media coverage at the time portrayed them as guilty and used racially coded terms to describe them. But their convictions were vacated in 2002 when the real rapist came forward and confessed, after the five had already served jail terms of up to 13 years. We get reaction to the settlement from Natalie Byfield, a reporter for the New York Daily News at the time of Central Park Five case. Now an associate professor of sociology at St. Johns University in Queens, Byfield is the author of "Savage Portrayals: Race, Media and the Central Park Jogger Story."Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: The City of New York has reportedly reached a $40 million settlement with the five men who were wrongly convicted of raping a female jogger in Central Park 25 years ago. Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, Korey Wise and Yusef Salaam were arrested in 1989 for beating and raping a white woman in New York Citys Central Park. She came to be known as the Central Park jogger. The five boys were all black and Latinos between the ages of 14 and 16. Their arrest made national headlines. They initially confessed, but soon they recanted, insisting they had admitted to the crime under the duress of exhaustion and coercion from police officers.
AMY GOODMAN: In 2002, the convictions in the Central Park Five case were vacated after the real rapist, Matias Reyes, came forward in prison and confessed to the crime. DNA evidence confirmed he was the sole attacker. But by then the five defendants had already served sentences of almost seven to 13 years for the attack.
http://www.democracynow.org/2014/6/20/nycs_40m_central_park_5_settlement
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)going on about how, 'well, you have to call them alleged, even though they did it, but their moms will say they're good boys, never done anything wrong...' etc, etc., showing just how everyone in power from the mayor down was ready to railroad them without even going to trial. Kind of makes me think there should be some way for them to individually sue everyone who went around giving media interviews calling them guilty before the trial.
Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)the falsely accused have been compensated although the money can't turn
the clock for them....terrible ordeal words can't describe well enough.
malaise
(269,278 posts)their teenage years, college or a trade school, falling in love at that age, etc. but it may give them some financial security to own a home and start a small business.
They are proof of institutional racism. Prisons are full of young men who were set up.
Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)AtlantaBlue
(12 posts)Let's hope that they now have enough money now to sue Linda Fairstein for her corruption and prosecutorial misconduct. I remember this case so well. It was on the NYC local news every day. After watching Ken Burns' documentary, it brought back so many memories. I remembered avoiding the park for months after it happened, and I remembered a sense of happiness and relief that I had when they arrested these young men. I now look back at these memories and for many the many years that these young men spent wrongfully incarcerated in the New York State Correctional System with a sense of deep shame and disgust. How could any of us know that they had the wrong people? It wasn't what they presented to the public at the time. I remember seeing the prosecutor on the television telling all of NYC that they could sleep easy because they had identified the perpetrators and that they were not going to get off. I cannot imagine being imprisoned for a crime that I didn't commit, and I am grateful that something like this has never happened to me. Malicious prosecution! Ms. Fairstein made a name and a career for herself after this case. It was her entree into the limelight. She left the DA's office, wrote many books, and made a great deal of money off of her conviction of the wrong people. I try not to wish ill on anyone, but I hope that karma pays a visit on her for her sins. The whole situation is tragic. Now if only the West Memphis Three could receive the same vindication.
PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)the actual prosecutor in the case was Elizabeth Lederer.
Extensive New York Magazine article on the case...
http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/crimelaw/features/n_7836/index1.html
Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)AtlantaBlue
(12 posts)I'm trying to get a feel for this site. I rather prefer it to HuffPost, it seems to have a good group of people on here. Other sites seem to censor a lot, and now that the comenting system on HuffPost is tied to Facebook, it was time to say goodbye. Where can i find the key for the shorthand (n/t) on the site? Thanks much!
Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)further in the body message. ( no text )
no_hypocrisy
(46,297 posts)Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)no_hypocrisy
(46,297 posts)Donald Trump slams NYC for $40M Central Park Five deal while convicted rapist maintains his guilt
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/central-park-dad-40m-settlement-article-1.1837710
Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)and had a tv show to "teach" others how to be a success. UGH
I wish NY'ers would run him out of town, his ego is the size of Kansas, he should head
on out in that direction..there's no room for it in NYC.