Sarah Burns (1)

Many of us remember the horrible rape of the central park jogger in 1989, and the tabloid-like headlines that accompanied the case. What didn’t make the headlines was the fact that the five boys (four under 16) that were tried and convicted of the heinous crime were all exonerated of that crime in 2003. Once the boys were in the system though, the system decided convict them no matter what the facts bore out. Sara Burns does justice to their cases, and reminds us all that our race and class is oft times used against us in a court of law.… (mehr)

This book, by the daughter of PBS award winner Ken Burns, is the retelling of the wrongful conviction of 5 New York City boys in the brutal assault of a woman jogger in 1989. Sarah Burns does a good job of simply analyzing the information and putting it in the context of New York City in a very high-crime era. She looks at the crime through the eyes of racism and it is compelling. She is in the process of making a documentary on the same subject and since she is collaborating with her parents, I imagine it will be very high quality.… (mehr)