Central Park 5 Prosecutor Linda Farstein on Netflix miniseries “A Basket of Lies”
By Dominick Fils-Aimé | May 4, 2019
Former Manhattan sex crime prosecutor and best selling author, Linda Fairstein, has been under fire after renewed outrage associated with her role in the Central Park Five case. The backlash was prompted by award-winning filmmaker, Ava DuVernay’s Netflix miniseries ‘When They See Us’ which depicts Farstein as being confederate in the controversial interrogations and coerced confessions that led to the wrongful convictions of five black and latino teenagers in 1990.
As a result of this revelation Fairstein has herself been coerced, into resigning from a number of non-profit boards she served on. Furthermore, a petition urging publishers and retailers to pull her books has already amassed over 50,000 signatures.
“It’s a basket of lies,” Fairstein, 72, told The Daily Beast.
Amazon & all other book retailers : Linda Fairstein Central Park five book removal – Sign the Petition! https://t.co/oYKeJMWMB1 via @Change
— Yusef Abdus Salaam (@dr_yusefsalaam) June 3, 2019
One can infer that Fairstein’s objections aren’t simply concerned with her portrayal in the miniseries. The retired prosecutor has been defending her handling of the case as recently as last year. In July of 2018, Fairstein argued in a letter to the editor of the New York Journal that the teens confessions were not contrived. Moreover, despite a lack of DNA evidence Fairstein maintains that the five men are in fact guilty.
“Two juries heard that the DNA in and on the jogger’s body was not from any of the 5—and still they convicted on the theory that the missing attacker, who had run with the crowd of 32 young men who rioted in the park, had not yet been caught,” she wrote.
Regardless Farstein’s ferver, she will continue to face judgment; ironically. The backlash includes a #cancellindafairstein Twitter hashtag that has seemingly prompted the retired prosecutor to delete all of her social media accounts. She has also been eloquently awarded “Donkey of the Day” by Power 105.1’s ‘The Breakfast Club’s polarizing radio personality Charlamange the god. Watch below if your interested.
Source: ‘When They See Us’ prompts renewed backlash for former prosecutor Linda Fairstein
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