New York - Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth
Lederer, a prosecutor in the overturned Central Park 5 conviction,
resigned Wednesday from Columbia Law School where she served as a
part-time professor after a group of black students called on her to
quit.
Controversy over the conviction of the men has been reignited after
the release of a fictionalized version of the events, called "When
They See Us," airing on Netflix.
"The mini-series has reignited a painful_and vital_national
conversation about race, identity, and criminal justice. I am deeply
committed to fostering a learning environment that furthers this
important and ongoing dialogue, one that draws upon the lived
experiences of all members of our community and actively confronts
the most difficult issues of our time," Dean Gillian Lester told
Bloomberg News.
The Black Law Students Association, calling Lederer's actions
"racist," demanded on Tuesday that the administration dump her from
the faculty where she serves as a lecturer in law.
They also want Columbia Law School to revamp its curriculum to battle
what they call institutionalized racism in the legal system.
"Columbia Law School should fire Elizabeth Lederer but that is just a
start," reads the letter. "The school needs to address the racism in
how the law is taught."
They claim thousands of Columbia students have signed petitions
demanding the firing of Lederer.
Lederer is taking new heat after the release of a blockbuster new
Netflix documentary about the wrongful conviction of five young black
men for a 1989 attack on a white jogger in the park. She was the main
prosecutor on the case along with Linda Fairstein, who is now a
fiction writer.
Students say they pushed for Lederer's ouster six years ago but
Columbia took no action except to remove a reference to the Central
Park case in her official biography on the school's web site.