The Central Park Five case has become an important example of the many systemic failures of the criminal justice system.
Final stretch for 2019
John,
Three decades ago, Raymond Santana, Korey Wise, Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray and I went from being teenagers with big dreams to the moniker “the Central Park Five” overnight. The press, the city and the whole world instantly believed we were guilty of attacking and nearly killing a white female jogger in Central Park. We never had a chance to prove our innocence.
Through Ava DuVernay's Netflix series When They See Us, we were able to take back our story and become known as the Exonerated Five. But there are still countless innocent people in prison right now, waiting to have their stories heard.
Yusef Salaam as a wrongfully accused teenager (left) and as an adult advocate (right).
My case — and the case of Raymond, Korey, Kevin and Antron — has become an important example of the many systemic failures of the criminal justice system. I’m proud to be an advocate for the reforms that can prevent wrongful convictions, such as stronger eyewitness identification procedures and mandatory interrogation recording laws.
And most of all, I’m proud to stand with the Innocence Project in this work. Their commitment over the last few decades has led not only to my freedom, but to the freedom of hundreds of other innocent people.
Yusef Salaam
Exonerated 2002
Innocence Project Board of Directors
Started in 1992 as a legal clinic at Cardozo School of Law, the Innocence Project is now an independent nonprofit, affiliated with Cardozo, that exonerates the wrongly convicted through DNA testing and reforms the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice. www.innocenceproject.org
