Life&Culture

Central Park Five case prosecutor resigns from Columbia Law School

June 14, 2019 01:39·
Ava DuVernay’s Central Park Five series ‘When They See Us’ has been Netflix’s most-watched since premiere

Ava DuVernay’s Central Park Five series ‘When They See Us’ has been Netflix’s most-watched since premiere

Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Lederer, a prosecutor in the overturned Central Park 5 conviction, resigned Wednesday from Columbia Law School where she served as a part-time professor after a group of black students called on her to quit.

For that reason, Netflix has recruited Oprah Winfrey to take part in the Netflix follow up special "When They See Us Now", where she interviewed Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymon Santana, Antron McCray and Korey Wise about the newfound attention to their story following Ava DuVernay's four-part series.

As Lederer tendered her resignation from her position as lecturer in law at Columbia Law School, she exemplified none of the unassailable panache she radiated when she seemed to be at the center of the NY legal universe from 1989 to 1990.

Following the release of Ava DuVernay's miniseries, the Columbia Black Students' Organization started a petition criticizing the school's "inaction" regarding Lederer's employment status.

"The mini-series has reignited a painful_and vital_national conversation about race, identity, and criminal justice". "I am deeply committed to fostering a learning environment that furthers this important and ongoing dialogue, one that draws upon the lived experiences of all members of our community and actively confronts the most hard issues of our time".

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The show has led to a backlash against Linda Fairstein, the NY prosecutor in the "Central Park Five" case, who has resigned from the boards of Vassar College and victim-assistance organization Safe Horizon. The city settled with the men in 2014, and they were awarded $41 million.

But Netflix didn't provide any additional info beyond that, and it has selectively doled out self-reported numbers in the past to tout the popularity of some of its original series and films. She had been assigned to the case by Linda Fairstein, who ran the office that supervised the prosecution in the case and who has faced a backlash of her own since the release of "When They See Us".

DuVernay created, directed, and co-wrote the series. "Instead she has written an utterly false narrative involving an evil mastermind (me) and the falsely accused (the five)".

Fairstein has since been forced to step off of the boards of Vassar College, Safe Horizons, Gods Love We Deliver and was dropped from her publisher. As for Lederer, how many other lives has she ruined in those many decades at the New York County DA's office.

The case sparked cries of injustice with coerced confessions from the teens.

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