I saw the documentary, The Central Park Five, last Thursday at the IFC Center. The one word that informally sums up my reaction to the film is “wow.” I was completely gripped by the real accounts given by the five, falsely convicted, men. These five poor boys were guilty until proven innocent. This was a complete and utter failure of the legal system and the press. The result of this you may ask? Seven to thirteen years in prison, 5 individual lives ruined, families tarnished and tortured, all in the purview of political “prowess.” After Ray Donovan was acquitted, he asked “What office do I go to get my reputation back?” Similarly, where could these men go to get their lives back? Simply stated, nowhere.
Who’s job was it to ensure the innocence of the five boys that were convicted? They were coerced into giving false statements, wrongly detained and questioned for over 26 hours, and those children who were under 16 years old were unlawfully denied access to a parent or guardian. Where was the higher power here to assert our ‘esteemed’ legal process and system? Clearly, the police officers, DA’s, and prosecuting attorneys failed. Who, or what entity, was supposed to keep them in check? The answer to that question is rather simple, the press. Instead of being the guiding light in this tragedy, the press victimized these five boys for months. The imagery of the public lynching in the film was rather ironic, as the press metaphorically hanged these five children before they ever had a chance. How could this possibly happen? I think it’s important here to write the words given by District Attorney Robert Morgenthau’s office after the convictions were vacated. This one paragraph sums up the failures of the press and legal system alike:
“A comparison of the statements reveals troubling discrepancies. … The accounts given by the five defendants differed from one another on the specific details of virtually every major aspect of the crime — who initiated the attack, who knocked the victim down, who undressed her, who struck her, who held her, who raped her, what weapons were used in the course of the assault, and when in the sequence of events the attack took place. … In many other respects the defendants’ statements were not corroborated by, consistent with, or explanatory of objective, independent evidence. And some of what they said was simply contrary to established fact.”
Interestingly enough, the next morning I had a conversation with my mother about the film before she left for work. I said to her “It’s really unbelievable how the lives of these five boys were completely railroaded.” With a perplexed look on her face, she responded, “What are you talking about? You mean the five boys who raped and practically murdered that poor woman?” I went silent for a few moments, completely in shock of what she had just said. Mind you, my mother has been a court reporter (stenographer in the courtroom who writes every single word that is said) for over 30 years. She pays very much attention to important court cases (especially ones as popular as this one). So, when SHE was not aware that the five boys’ convictions were vacated, I was in complete shock. This speaks to what Craig Wilder had said in the film, “Their innocence never got the attention that their guild did.”
-Shaun
I like your writing. Good quote from the attorney’s office and the conversation with your mother.
I feel the same thing and I think this case could be a source: to study sociology about how human nature influence people’s mindsets in society; to learn how media and government works for public good; to figure out how jury system and moral standards could bring fairness and equality to the MAJORITY of the people.