Dear Law School Community,
Elizabeth Lederer, a Lecturer in Law at Columbia Law School and an active prosecutor in the New York County District Attorney’s Office, was the lead prosecutor on the Central Park Jogger case in 1989. She wrongfully prosecuted and convicted five innocent Black and Latinx boys: Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Yusef Salaam, and Korey Wise, also known as the “Central Park Five.”
The lives of these five boys were forever changed as a result of Lederer’s conduct. During the investigation, Lederer and her colleagues used harmful, racist tactics, including physical abuse and coercion, to force confessions from the five minors. The case they built was founded on false information and an overwhelming lack of physical evidence. As a result, five boys spent their formative years in prison until the charges were vacated in 2002 after the real perpetrator confessed to the crime and DNA evidence linking him to the crime was discovered.
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Since Lederer’s integral role in the case has received a national spotlight, there have been multiple efforts urging Columbia Law School to take action. In 2013 a petition was circulated, which gained thousands of signatures and demanded the removal of Lederer. Instead of taking decisive action to address the issue, Columbia Law School simply removed the Central Park jogger case from Lederer’s online bio. Now, with the release of Ava Duvernay’s When They See Us on Netflix, Columbia’s inaction on this subject shows a disconnect between the values Columbia purports and the actions the Law School takes. Another petition, circulated by our brothers, sisters, and non-binary friends at Columbia University Black Students’ Organization, has gained thousands of signatures and again demands for the removal of Elizabeth Lederer.
Lederer is not the first prosecutor to send innocent Black and Latinx children to prison, nor will she be the last. Rather, the legal system as a whole, including legal education, endorses a carceral state that devalues the lives of Black and Brown people.
Columbia Law School should fire Elizabeth Lederer, but that is just a start. The School must do more because letting one professor go does not improve the lives of Black and Latinx law students, nor does it improve the learning experience of students of color at Columbia Law School. It does nothing to rectify the harms inflicted upon Santana, Richardson, McCray, Salaam, or Wise. Furthermore, it does nothing to ensure the pedagogy that created prosecutors like Elizabeth Lederer does not create another. If Columbia Law School wants to show that they care about Black and Brown law students then the school needs to address the racism inherent in how the law is taught.
The Black Law Students Association demands that Columbia Law School explain any actions it has taken to hold Elizabeth Lederer accountable. We also ask that Columbia implement professionally-led, mandatory, anti-racist trainings for all educators at the law school, re-evaluate the hiring curriculum to prioritize staff that already bring cultural competencies into the classroom, and re-evaluate law school curriculums to prevent perpetuating racist practices.
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Ava Duvernay’s powerful film has shed light on details of a story some of us know too well. But we need to do more than shine a light into darkness if we want to achieve a just, more equitable world. We need action. We ask that Columbia Law School take action with us, and in-doing so, demonstrate its commitment to training and educating lawyers who will go on to impact people’s lives and affect their communities.
As the Black Law Students Association on Columbia’s campus, we stand with Columbia University Black Students’ Organization (BSO), Asian Pacific American Law Students Association (APALSA), Criminal Justice Action Network (CJAN) Columbia Law Feminist Society (CLFS), Columbia Law Students for Palestine (CLSP), Columbia Law School Women’s Association (CLWA), Empowering Women of Color (EWOC), First Generation Professionals (FGP), Latinx Law Students Association (LaLSA), Law in Africa Students Society (LASS), National Lawyers Guild (NLG), Native American Law Students Association (NALSA), New England Law Students Association (NELSA), The Public Defender Students of Columbia Law School (PDSCLS), Outlaws, Queer Trans People of Color (QTPOC), RightsLink, South Asian Law Students Association (SALSA), and Student Senate as we are all a part of this community. We ask that Columbia Law School act in a manner that supports the learning and living environment of all students.
In Solidarity,