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George Zimmerman was granted bail today set at $250,000 by a Florida judge. The terms of bail will be negotiated before Zimmerman is released. Zimmerman awaits trial in the killing of Trayvon Martin, a case that has dominated headlines for over a month and sparked a nationwide debate about crime, race, and the media. Twenty three years ago, another widely publicized crime exposed simmering racial animosities in the country’s largest city, and revealed inherent prejudices within the American judicial system.

In her new book “The Central Park Five,” author Sarah Burns explores the 1989 Central Park Jogger case during which five Black and Latino teenagers were convicted for the brutal rape and beating of a white woman named Patricia Ellen Meili. Burns meticulously documents events leading up to the crime and describes in detail the questionable tactics used by New York City Police Detectives during interrogations of the 14-16 year olds, that lasted hours, producing confessions riddled with inaccuracies and inconsistencies.

The Central Park Five contextualizes its subject, examining the media frenzy that erupted around the case and portraying a New York City in the grips of an unprecedented crime wave with cuts to social services, skyrocketing drop out rates, and an ever expanding divide between rich and poor. Burns gives her reader a glimpse into an episode of American history only recently removed and whose race-related issues the country is still struggling to resolve.

GUEST: Sarah Burns, author of The Central Park Five: The Untold Story Behind one of New York City’s Most Infamous Crimes. Burns is also putting the finishing touches on a film based on the book which has just been accepted at this year’s Cannes Film Festival

Click here to find out more about the book.

Sarah Burns will be at a panel on Sunday at noon at USC’s Bing Theater at a panel discussion called Elbow of Justice.

Tune into KPFK on Sunday April 22nd from 10 am to 2 pm for live coverage from the LA Times Festival of Books at USC.