Netflix to Face Central Park Five Defamation Suit in New York

A suit alleging the Netflix series “When They See Us” defamed the former chief of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Sex Crimes Prosecution unit should be heard in New York, where the events depicted in the series took place, a Florida federal judge decided.

In the 2019 series about the Central Park Five, Linda Fairstein, played by Felicity Huffman, is portrayed as the primary force behind the racist and wrongful prosecution of five Black boys in New York City.

Fairstein, who allegedly took issue with the series before its creation over the sources used, sued Netflix and the show’s writers for ...