Ken Burns defies subpoena in 'Central Park Five' lawsuit

Ken Burns and the filmmakers behind The Central Park Five,
a documentary about the wrongful conviction of five minority
teens for a 1989 Central Park rape, will defy a subpoena from
the city of New York, which is engaged in a multimillion federal
suit with the exonerated former suspects.

Oct 3 2012

by Jeff Labrecque

Tags: Central Park Five, Documentary, Ken Burns 

 

After serving prison sentences, the five men were cleared of wrongdoing with the help of DNA evidence in 2002 and have been in litigation with the City for the last nine years. On Sept. 12, the filmmakers received a subpoena from the City requesting access to the film’s interviews and unreleased footage, but in a statement today, Burns and co-directors Sarah Burns and David McMahon’s attorney said they would not comply, claiming that the City’s request was “neither appropriate nor enforceable under the governing law for subpoenas served on professional journalists exercising their right of independent free speech.”

Click below for the entire statement:



“We have long expected the subpoena,” said Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon, the film’s directors. “For the last ten years the City has refused to settle the civil rights lawsuit brought by these young men. This strikes us as just another effort to delay and deny closure and justice to these five men, each of whom was cleared of guilt even though they served out their full and unjustified terms.
“As you can imagine, we strongly believe in the media’s right to investigate and report on these and other issues and that this process, including the reporting notes and outtakes, come under the New York reporters’ shield law. The government has an exacting burden before it can obtain these and other materials.”  <a href="http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/10/03/ken-burns-subpoena-central-park-five-lawsuit/">READ MORE</a>