Today’s Talmud pages, Ketubot 18 and 19, warn us that a confession, even though it may seem final, is not always credible, especially if it involves underage suspects, coercion, or both, as was the case with the Central Park Five, Black and Latino teenagers who, in 1989, were falsely accused of a horrible crime they didn't commit. The case inspired many works of fiction and non-fiction, including a masterful documentary by Ken Burns, and continues to urge us to spur us towards criminal justice reform. Which local New York celebrity who would later rise to great prominence ignored the available evidence and called for the five teens to be executed? Listen and find out.
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Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by Darone Ruskay and Quinn Waller. Our team also includes Stephanie Butnick, Josh Kross, Mark Oppenheimer, Sara Fredman Aeder, Robert Scaramuccia, and Tanya Singer.
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