Discussion 3.4 The Central Park Five The case of the Central Park Five involved five Black and Latino teenage boys who were wrongfully arrested, coerced into false confessions, and convicted for the 1

Discussion 3.4 The Central Park Five

The case of the Central Park Five involved five Black and Latino teenage boys who were wrongfully arrested, coerced into false confessions, and convicted for the 1989 assault and rape of a white jogger in Central Park. Despite lack of physical evidence and later DNA confirmation of another perpetrator, the boys were imprisoned for years before their exoneration.

Step 1: Write Your Initial Post  

Using the lens of conflict criminology, discuss the following:

• How does the Central Park Five case illustrate the idea that the law is used by the powerful to control the powerless?
• In what ways did race, class, and media influence the investigation and trial?
• What does this case suggest about who gets labeled as “criminal” in American society—and why?
• Can the legal system that enabled this kind of injustice also be the one that fixes it? Why or why not?

Initial posts are due by Thursday, 11:59 pm 

Suggested word count: 250 -300 words