Co-sponsored by the Prison Studies Project
THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE
SYNOPSIS: In 1989, five black and Latino teenagers from Harlem were arrested and later convicted of raping a white woman in New York City’s Central Park. They spent between six and 13 years in prison before a serial rapist confessed that he alone had committed the crime, resulting in their convictions being overturned. Set against a backdrop of a decaying city beset by violence and racial tension, THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE tells the story of that horrific crime, the rush to judgment by the police, a media clamoring for sensational stories, an outraged public, and the five lives upended by this miscarriage of justice.
Documentary produced, written, and directed by Ken Burns, David McMahon & Sarah Burns
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📰 “Ken Burns offers preview of ‘Central Park Five’ at HLS” – Harvard Law Today