Vassar Board Member Resigns Over Netflix Miniseries

Controversy over a Netflix show has resulted in the resignation of a local board member.

On Tuesday Linda Fairstein resigned from the Vassar College board of trustees. The former Manhattan prosecutor has been forced into the spotlight thanks to a Netflix miniseries called When They See Us.

According to NBC News, students at Vassar College started a petition to have Fairstein removed after learning about her role in the Central Park Five case. When They See Us chronicles the infamous rape case brought against five young men. Thirteen years after being accused, the five were vindicated after a serial rapist admitted to the crime.

One of the defendants, Yousef Salaam, claimed that Fairstein, who is portrayed by Felicity Huffman in the series, fabricated a confession from him while she was heading the sex crimes unit in 1993. Salaam also says that the former prosecutor blocked his mother, aunt, and Big Brother mentor from seeing him during his interrogations and he was denied food and sleep while in custody.

A petition to have Fairstein removed was started by students at Vassar College and was signed by over 15,000 people in just a couple of days. In statements made last year, Fairstein maintained that "the questioning [of the Central Park Five] was respectful, dignified, carried out according to the letter of the law and with sensitivity to the young age of the men.”

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