By Seamus McGraw

The Exception Rather Than the Rule

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Looking back, Stier remains proud of the work that he and the members of his law firm, working pro bono, together with the committee did in revamping certain aspects of the state's criminal justice system.

But as the years have passed, he told Crime Library, it has become even clearer to him that the media's general lack of commitment to the Divina Genao case, is really the rule.

"My gut tells me that mysteries surrounding white women - white people generally get more media attention, more response from law enforcement, more response from courts, more response from all of the institutions than similar cases involving minorities, and that is a terrible condition in our society," Stier said. "It's indicative of the gulf that exists between minorities and the criminal justice system that to me in my mind is one of the two most serious problems we have in this country."

And in the absence of intense media scrutiny, Stier said, it was simply the commitment of one man who recognized the problems posed by the case and demanded answers that prevented Divina's death from being just another missed opportunity to improve the system.

"In the case of the young girl in (Passaic ) the only reason that that effort was put into it was because Chief Justice Wilentz cared enough to ask me to do it," Stier said. "He really wanted to know."

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