Article: JUVENILE JUSTICE PROCEDURE: THE CASE OF THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE
The Central Park Five tells the story of five Black and Latino teenagers from Harlem who were falsely accused of viciously raping and beating a white woman in Central Park. After this terrible crime, there was a rush to judgment by the police, media, and public that overcame all the safeguards of the Juvenile Justice System...
Watch the entire film and address each question by number, citing specific scenes and individuals:
1. While in police custody, why did the boys confess to crimes they did not commit? How were they misled by their interrogators? Why did the presence of family and the recitation of Miranda warnings fail to protect them?
2. At trial, why did the coerced confessions trump physical evidence (or lack of evidence)? What avenues of defense did the defense attorneys NOT pursue?
3. How did the confessions and ages of the boys play a role in their sentences?
4. What transpired at the parole hearings that prolong some of their sentences?
5. After the convictions were finally reversed, what serious flaws in the investigation did District Attorney Morgenthau identify?
6. How did each of the Central Park Five describe the lasting effects of his arrest, conviction, and incarceration?