CRM3550 Justice, Punishment and Human Rights: The Film Review

Naphtaly Nsumbu Word Count: 2642 (without bibliography)

CRM3550 Justice, Punishment and Human Rights: The Film Review

The Central Park 5 produced by Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon, released in 2012,

is a documentary focusing on the Central Park Jogger Case, notoriously known for the wrongful

convictions of five African American and Hispanic American teenagers accused of raping and

attacking a white woman. In this case, Trisha Meili was brutally beaten, sexually assaulted and left

for dead and whilst in a coma for twelve days, five teenagers were fighting for their innocence

while Americas justice system had other plans for them. A New York Times Journalist stated,

These young men were proxies of all kinds of other agendas and the truth and reality in justice

were not part of it[ CITATION Bur13 l 2057 ]1. After spending up to thirteen years behind bars,

their charges were vacated due to a known serial rapist confessing to the ghastly crime. The

documentary explores the journey to innocence of Americas young civilians who were never guilty

to begin with. The Central Park Five responds to issues of injustice in our society, wrongful

convictions, racism and discrimination I will be exploring deeper into punishment as the focal

point of this essay is racism and justice.

The documentary is a clear depiction that racism exists in the institutions of the criminal justice and

in our society, in general. Yet, my question is: how is it allowed to happen? Legal inequality has

paved the way for racism to make an influence in how we treat and see each other, beginning in the

eighteenth century. Legal inequality allowed for the notion of white supremacy and black inferiority

to create a hierarchy - therefore, allowing people to get away with certain conduct and planned

institutes such as slavery during the eighteenth century. The main idea behind this came from

biological determinism: the link between human behaviours and innate traits of humans such as

genes and anything involved with physiology. A contemporary philosopher of race, Hume analysed

that the creation and development of the natural physical science of the biology and the social

science of anthropology over the 19th century afforded new conceptual tools for describing and

analysing human differences, especially differences between Europeans and those in parts of the

world that became subordinate to Europe[ CITATION MDe95 l 2057 ].2 In the late 80s and early

90s era, there were two types of New York, according to the documentary: the suburbs and the

projects3. Harlem served as a primary home for the citys black population between the 1920s

and 1960s and is the heart of the citys black cultural heritage.4 The home of the teenagers was

herefore wanted purification of the human race. With the States Darwinism directed towards both

race and economics, this was one main influence in black and brown people being a target in the

eyes of America: I just felt like the whole world was against us.12

During the 1990s, white was seen as the norm. As said by Dyer, 1997: 3: whites are not a race,

theyre just the human race. Being white, meant they were entitled to power, privilege and status;

many of a few things non-whites are still deprived of. In Patels Race and Society, the term race

considered man-made and is just a socially and historically produced concept.13 With the legacy of

scientific racism, the existence of race holds a real meaning within todays society. Today, the

topic and discussion of race can leave people feeling different ways, however it is definitely a topic

that I believe has encouraged injustice throughout what we call our criminal justice system. Black

people were depicted as perpetrators of monstrosity.14 Yusufs sister, claimed, All of us are

victims,15while addressing police brutality and injustice in New York. Even though, history and

racist ideology created by white people, black people are partly to blame for the stigma against:

when commentaries were made about the Jogger Case, news reporters stated that many of the

black community had been victims to these crimes by black men, therefore a lot of people went

along with the confessions.16 Nevertheless, race is considered to be significant and so it becomes

significant.17 It is for this reason and other previously mentioned the black community were

under assault18 in the 1980s and no one cared if you lived or died.19

Race, crime and punishment are at the heart of The Central Park Five. Raymond Santana, 14, at

the time of his arrest; Kevin Richardson, 14; Antron McCray, 15; Yusef Salaam, 15; and Korey

Wise, 16, were all charged with the crimes against the Central Park Jogger and rioting. The

documentary portrays the stories of how the youths were coerced to confess to the crimes and more,

importantly, why they were targeted for punishment of the crime of the century.20 During the

1970s and 1980s, the stop under suspicion laws were implemented and abused. Section 4 of the

Vagrancy Act 1824 permitted police to stop and search persons committing certain offences to be

deemed rogues and vagabonds. Police have to prove the act that had been committed deemed them

a suspicious person, and they provided the intent to commit an arrestable offence. This was not

the case for Wise when he was brought in by the police and told You could come down with your

buddies21 in order to give a false statement. However, Santana and Richardson were apprehended

at the scene of the crime whilst McCray and Salaam were arrested the day after. With the crime in

New York being the worst during the 80s and 90s, and crack and guns increasing crime, this caused

fear within the city and non-whites were suspected of most of the crimes. The NYPD were in a

hurry to close and solve the case