Justice for the Central Park Five

WHEREAS, the Central Park Five convictions were vacated by New York Supreme Court Justice Charles J. Tejada on December 19, 2002; and

WHEREAS, in 2003, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, and Antron McCray filed a civil rights suit against the city for malicious prosecution, racial discrimination, and emotional distress; and

WHEREAS, the civil suit has been pending for a decade and the City of New York has refused to settle or otherwise expedite the trial of this matter citing the confessions that withstood intense scrutiny and the public trials; and

WHEREAS, the NAACP further recognizes that the actions occurring on state and local levels has a significant impact on national criminal justice issues and laws.

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED, that the NAACP calls upon the New York State Supreme Court to bring this civil matter to a swift and just conclusion