Josie Walker

Mr. Baskin

Civics 3rd Hour

23 May, 2025​

“When They See Us” Informative Essay

The Netflix series, “When They See Us”, is based on the true story of five minority teenage boys who

were wrongly convicted of the 1989 assault and rape of a white female jogger in New York City’s Central

Park. The boys, Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise,

are better known as the “Central Park Five”. Throughout the series it becomes clear that they were failed

and manipulated by the police, the media, and even some of their own parents. Most importantly, the legal

system failed to uphold the boys’ constitutional rights during their arrest and interrogation, especially

those rights protected by the fourth and fifth amendments of the Constitution. The 4th Amendment, which

protects against unlawful search and seizure, was ignored when they were arrested without any physical

evidence. The 5th Amendment, which protects against self-incrimination, was violated when they were

forced to confess under pressure and without understanding their rights. In episode one, the police coerced

most of the boys into signing false confessions by promising they could go home if they complied, but

instead, they were arrested and charged without any proof. Even though the boys eventually retained

lawyers for their trials, the damage had already been done. Their lawyers tried to show the truth, that most

of the boys didn’t even know each other and that their confessions didn’t match up. They also pointed out

that the Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) found at the crime scene didn’t match any of the boys. Still, the

court ignored all of this. The confessions, which were forced out of them during long and unfair

interrogations, were used as the main evidence. Instead of protecting the boys and giving them a fair

chance, the justice system failed them.

desperate for a conviction after seeing the severity of the victims’ injuries. Rather than taking the time to

examine evidence fairly, Fairstein and officers assigned to the case focused on building a narrative that

painted the five boys as guilty from the start. They ignored the boys' several statements during

interrogation that they did not see the assault and refused to believe they could be innocent. Instead of

following the facts, they attempted to connect dots that simply weren’t there. The boys, who were all

children, were treated with extreme bias and cruelty. The police saw them not as scared teenagers but as

violent rapists, and forced them through hours long interrogations where they were threatened, yelled at,

physically abused, and starved for hours. They were interrogated alone without lawyers or parents

present. Although their confessions didn’t match each other’s or the details of the actual crime scene, the

DA continued pushing the case forward. Even when a sock containing semen was discovered that didn’t

match any of the five boys’ DNA, Fairstein ignored the evidence. At that point she was too deep in her

version of the truth to turn back.

The morning the boys were picked up by police, many of their parents didn’t even know where their

children were or what had happened the night before. Antron McCray was picked up at home, and his

parents went with him to the station. But when his mom got upset about the things the detectives were

saying, they asked her to leave. Antron’s dad stayed and told him to just do what the detectives said.

When Antron didn’t want to lie, his dad got mad and pressured him to say what the police wanted. Kevin

Richardson was alone for most of his questioning, and his older sister Angie arrived as police were

pressuring him to sign a confession. Kevin begged her to sign it so he could go home, she hesitated, but

agreed. While many of the parents did not seem to understand their legal rights or the legal rights of their

children, Yusef Salaam’s mom stopped his questioning before he could sign anything, because she knew

he was a minor and needed a lawyer. Raymond Santana‘s father was not able to stay at the station with

him because he had to go to work. Raymond was left with his grandmother, who couldn’t speak English

until police removed her from the interrogation room. Korey Wise, the only one who was 16 years old,
went to the station just to look after his friend Yusef. His mother didn’t know where he was, and while he

was there, the police beat him and coerced him into giving a false video confession. The trial was

extremely hard on the boys and their families. Antron’s father did not attend much of the trial and

eventually left the family after the verdict. Donald Trump took out an entire page in the paper to say that

the boys should be executed. This was heartbreaking to read for the parents of the five.

Even though there was no strong evidence, the five boys were charged with rape, assault, and attempted

murder. They were convicted mostly because of their false confessions, even though the stories didn’t

match and didn’t line up with the facts of the case. The younger boys were sent to juvenile facilities, but

Korey Wise, who was 16 at the time, was tried as an adult. He was sentenced to 5 to 15 years and sent to

Rikers Island, where he spent a lot of time in solitary confinement. That night in Central Park changed all

of their lives forever. After they were released, they had to register as sex offenders, check in with parole

officers every 90 days, follow a strict curfew, avoid being around children who weren’t family, and

couldn’t get licenses for certified jobs. These restrictions made it extremely hard to get work, go back to

school, or live normal lives. The charges ruined their childhoods and had a long lasting effect on their

futures.

This case is heartbreaking. It’s hard to believe things like this happened, and even harder to accept that

situations like this still happen today. At every step of the way, the wrong choices were made by the

police, the parents, and the District Attorney. Instead of protecting the boys or looking for the truth, the

people who were supposed to help only made things worse. The boys’ story is not only sad, but it also

shows how broken and unfair our justice system can be, especially for Black youth. If I try to imagine

myself in their shoes, I know I would have been terrified. While I may never face something exactly like

this, I wouldn’t confess to something I didn’t do. My parents and I are more informed about our rights,

and we would’ve asked for a lawyer or left the station if I wasn’t under arrest. I don’t trust the police, and
this story is a reminder that their main goal is to make arrests, not to protect or care about us. This case

made it clear that knowing your rights could be the only protection you have.