Central Park Five Case Study
Son, the case of the “Central Park Five”. According to the June 19 New York Times, the “Central Park Five are “The five [black and latino] men whose convictions in the brutal 1989 beating and rape of a female jogger in Central Park were later overturned have agreed to a settlement of about $40 million from New York City to resolve a bitterly fought civil rights lawsuit over their arrests and imprisonment in the sensational crime.” (qtd. Jackson).
Five black and latino teenagers -- Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, Kharey Wise, Antron McCray and Yusef Salaam -- all between the ages of 14 and 16, were convicted of rape after four of the five confessed to the crime on tape. The boys pleaded not guilty claiming that the police pressured them into confessing after being awake for 48 hours. In spite of the fact that there was no physical evidence found linking the boys to the crime, all five were sentenced to 13 years imprisonment. Kuntsler did not represent all five of the boys during the trial, he was only a representative for Salaam’s appeals case for two years.
In 2002, Mathias Reyes confessed to …show more content…
Thousands of black men are incarcerated each year and the number continues to grow to this day,“The inherent racism in America’s enforcement of its drug policy has reached crisis proportions” (Smalls). The drug war has produced very unequal outcomes, producing that African Americans are incarcerated 6 times more than Caucasians when it comes to charges based on drugs. The use and distribution is rapid between both races, the only difference being that a black man would be more susceptible to prison time, “Please note, I am not suggesting that illicit drugs are required to break down social barriers” (Foster). The entire idea behind “Reaganomics” and the war on drugs is to keep black men off of the street and out of
Five black and latino teenagers -- Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, Kharey Wise, Antron McCray and Yusef Salaam -- all between the ages of 14 and 16, were convicted of rape after four of the five confessed to the crime on tape. The boys pleaded not guilty claiming that the police pressured them into confessing after being awake for 48 hours. In spite of the fact that there was no physical evidence found linking the boys to the crime, all five were sentenced to 13 years imprisonment. Kuntsler did not represent all five of the boys during the trial, he was only a representative for Salaam’s appeals case for two years.
In 2002, Mathias Reyes confessed to …show more content…
Thousands of black men are incarcerated each year and the number continues to grow to this day,“The inherent racism in America’s enforcement of its drug policy has reached crisis proportions” (Smalls). The drug war has produced very unequal outcomes, producing that African Americans are incarcerated 6 times more than Caucasians when it comes to charges based on drugs. The use and distribution is rapid between both races, the only difference being that a black man would be more susceptible to prison time, “Please note, I am not suggesting that illicit drugs are required to break down social barriers” (Foster). The entire idea behind “Reaganomics” and the war on drugs is to keep black men off of the street and out of