Source: New York Post Archives / Getty
While Linda Fairstein has come under fire for her sinister role in the wrongful conviction of the Central Park Five, it’s the case’s prosecutor Elizabeth Lederer’s turn to catch some smoke.
According to the New York Times, Lederer, who still serves as a prosecutor for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, has resigned from her adjunct teaching job at Columbia Law School as a direct result of Ava DuVernay’s miniseries When They See Us.
In an email to Columbia Law students sent on Wednesday night, Gillian Lester, the school’s dean wrote Lederer decided to not come back as a lecturer in the fall and that DuVernay’s series had “reignited a painful — and vital — national conversation about race, identity, and criminal justice.”
Apparently, Lederer told the school that “Given the nature of the recent publicity generated by the Netflix portrayal of the Central Park case. it is best for me not to renew my teaching application.”
As you can see, Lederer took no real responsibility in helping wrongfully convict the five Black and Latino boys for the Central Park rape case back in 1989.
Lederer’s resignation came on the heels of the Columbia’s Black Law Students Association criticizing the school’s leadership for “inaction” and collecting over 10,000 signatures to get her fired.
In a statement, they wrote they hope the school join them and take action in removing Lederer from their teaching community.
“Ava Duvernay’s powerful film has shed light on details of a story some of us know too well,” the letter said, adding, “We ask that Columbia Law School take action with us, and in doing so, demonstrate its commitment to training and educating lawyers who will go on to impact people’s lives and affect their communities.”
News of her resignation had Black Twitter celebrating:
As we previously reported, In 2002, Matias Reyes, who was already in prison for rape and murder, came forward and confessed to the crime with DNA confirming he was telling the truth. The convictions for all five men were vacated and in 2014 they were awarded $40 million dollars.
Fairstein still maintains that she did nothing wrong and that the men are guilty, despite DNA evidence proving otherwise.
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