Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Case Narative, III

Yesterday’s post continued the case narrative first provided on October 16. Today’s post will bring matters up to the present.

Nifong’s Ethics Problems

On January 12, apparently under advice from counsel, Mike Nifong formally recused himself from the lacrosse case—the first step, in all likelihood, toward losing his license to practice law. Cameramen captured a shot of the springtime media darling walking, alone and in the dark, to his car as he drove away from his office. The attorney general’s special prosecutions division took over the case.

Shortly after Nifong removed himself from the case, the Bar amended its ethics complaint against him. Focused on his decision to enter into an intentional agreement with Dr. Meehan to withhold exculpatory evidence, the Bar accused Nifong of not only massive ethics violations, but also of repeatedly lying to the court, breaking three state laws, and violating the Constitution. In many ways, the disgraced DA was his own enemy: he offered no fewer than 11 separate (and often mutually contradictory) explanations for the decision to withhold the DNA.

The Bar, it was clear, had heard enough from Nifong. In a devastating response to Nifong’s plea to dismiss some of the charges against him, the Bar accused the DA of asking the Disciplinary Hearings Commission “to undertake statutory construction, interpretation of case law, and semantic hair-splitting.” It ridiculed his citation of court orders from Judges Stephens and Smith, noting “that the content of each Order was based on Nifong’s misrepresentations to the Court as alleged in the Amended Complaint. Therefore, Nifong is effectively arguing that he can make false statements to a court which result in the entry of an order, and then use the order that is based on his misrepresentations to claim he committed no discovery violation.” And it correctly argued that the “Defendant’s contention that he was under no obligation to provide the information because no trial date was set necessarily implies that he was also entitled to withhold and never disclose potentially exculpatory information in any case that settled prior to trial.”

Nifong and the Political World

Smart political figures distanced themselves from Nifong; those less politically astute failed to do so. In the former category was Governor Mike Easley, who told an audience at the NYU Law School that Nifong was his “worst appointment.” In the latter category was Amanda Marcotte, appointed as chief blogger to John Edwards’ presidential campaign only days after penning the following “analysis” of the case:

I had to listen to how the poor dear lacrosse players at Duke are being persecuted just because they held someone down and fucked her against her will—not rape, of course, because the charges have been thrown out. Can’t a few white boys sexually assault a black woman anymore without people getting all wound up about it? So unfair.
When criticized for the remarks, Marcotte deleted them from her website. As other groups pored through Marcotte’s writings, it turned out she was an equal-opportunity author of vile material, and soon thereafter she resigned from the campaign.


The Campus Contest

But while Nifong was gone from the scene and seemingly on his way to losing his law license, the furor he unleashed continued unabated, especially at Duke. As the new year dawned, Brodhead invited Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty to return for spring-term classes. (Both declined to do so.) Then, in perhaps the most important campus development in the previous nine months, 19 professors (17 from Economics) published a letter implicitly rebuking the Group of 88, endorsing Brodhead’s call for an inquiry into Nifong’s misconduct, and stating that they would welcome all student-athletes, including lacrosse players, into their classes.


The Group of 88 swiftly responded. Karla Holloway resigned her position as the Campus Culture Initiative’s race subgroup chair by publicizing fifth-hand, unsubstantiated gossip about Duke students. (To my knowledge, she was neither disciplined nor criticized for her actions.) Cathy Davidson published an N&O op-ed describing the Group’s ad as a response to racist defenses of Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty, and Dave Evans “on the campus quad” sometime between March 29 and April 6. Neither then nor at any time since has Davidson revealed who these defenders were or what they were saying. She appears to have simply made up the rationalization. Holloway joined 86 colleagues in issuing a statement purporting to “clarify” the Group of 88’s ad, which defiantly rejected all “public calls to the authors to retract the ad or apologize for it.” Then, Group members Diane Nelson and Pedro Lasch darkly hinted at a conspiracy against them—motivated for unspecified reasons and staffed by unspecified people.

The duo had joined four other anti-lacrosse professors at a “shut up and teach” event at which they barred all recording devices and then proclaimed that their critics should “shut up and teach.” (“Free speech for me, not for three,” apparently.) Finally, on February 23, the Group saw one of its most prominent members, Political Science professor Paula McClain, elected to a two-year term as chairwoman of the Academic Council. McClain’s triumph coincided with the long-anticipated release of the Campus Culture Initiative report, which carried political correctness to a new level—demanding, among other things, the end of admissions breaks for athletes but their expansion for minorities. The report’s highlight, however, was a de facto Group of 88 Enrollment Initiative, a proposal that all Duke students be forced to take a class on “diversity” in the United States—offerings disproportionately taught by the Group of 88. The CCI report was scarcely a week old when it had been torn apart by several Chronicle editorials and op-eds.


The Nifong Faithful

Group of 88 members weren’t the only Nifong enablers to remain faithful to the end. Politically correct columnists acted as if nothing had changed after April 6, 2006. From the shelter of her lily-white, upper-class Connecticut suburb, Times columnist Selena Roberts penned a column mocking the lacrosse players for seeking jobs on Wall Street and arguing, “To many, the alleged crime and culture are intertwined . . . but the alleged crime and the culture are mutually exclusive.” One problem: Roberts herself, in a March 2006 column, had made precisely that connection.

A handful of other columnists joined Roberts in pretending that no new facts had emerged after April 6, 2006. People like Michael Corey (Blue Devil Weekly), Josh Perlin (Cornell Daily Sun), and Steven Marcus (Newsday) provided more examples of why this case had given the media such a bad name. And, of course, the Herald-Sun continued its case-long record of serving as a de facto Nifong press office.

The state NAACP, meanwhile, maintained its record of using the case to abandon 70 years of positions on criminal justice issues.
Rev. Curtis Gatewood, president of the Durham NAACP from 1994 until 2002, described the State Bar’s ethics charges as part of a “conspiracy to disrupt justice in this Durham case.” And state NAACP head Rev. William Barber, invited to preach in the Duke Chapel by his “good friend,” Duke Chaplain and CCI member Sam Wells, continued the organization's practice of lionizing the accuser and demonizing the lacrosse players. Several people in attendance walked out during his sermon.

As the special prosecutors continued their investigation, the Seligmanns’ lead attorney from April through October, Kirk Osborn, suffered a massive heart attack and died. He was hailed widely: Orange County DA Jim Woodall: “Not only was Kirk Osborn a very good friend, he was also a zealous attorney and a stellar representative for his clients and showed great professionalism in the courtroom.” Buddy Conner: “He hated injustice. That was the essence of his life. He carried a tremendous amount of credibility, but he did it without getting all angry and aggressive and arrogant.” Judge and former DA Carl Fox: “I often said that if I had a situation where I needed to be represented, I would call him. He was never a person who was very showy or anything like that. You’d never see him in the paper for a lot of the cases. That just wasn’t his thing.”

In a statement, the Seligmanns commented,

While it is now plain to anyone with any reason and objectivity that there was no sexual assault and that Reade has been the victim of an unprincipled prosecution, we are nonetheless saddened that Kirk did not live to see the day when Reade will be completely exonerated. While that day will come, it will now come too late for Kirk to share in it. When that day does arrive, it will be as a direct result of Kirk’s courage, skill and passionate belief in the truth.

With the N&O reporting that the players have arrived in the Triangle, ABC's Law & Justice Unit, the Drudge Report, and other sites are now reporting that AG Cooper has decided to drop all charges. An inevitable result--but a nonetheless welcome and long overdue one. But one mystery remains, as Duke law professor Paul Haagen noted: "I think the critical thing could be the wording. It could simply say the state can no longer prove its case, which would be a very harmful outcome for the community." Or the AG "could provide a full accounting of why the case should never have been brought."

61 comments:

Anonymous said...

Let us all hope that today id the day!

Kyle said...

I work at a University, and it's always kind of amazing to see the disconnect that many faculty members have with reality.

As much as it pains me to admit, it tends to be a humanities professor. I wonder if it's a function of science faculty having regard for hard data and humanities being more 'touchy feely?'

Oh well, whatever the reason the continued defense of the accuser is very scary.

Anonymous said...

When this case is dismissed tomorrow it's going to be interesting to see how the various hoax enablers deal with the fact that they were wrong. I suspect it will be more difficult for them when the MSM mirrors the excellent Nightline broadcast tonight and each news organization participates in the Nifong feeding frenzy. Even Nancy Grace and Greta will be smelling the blood in the water. Should be fun.

cf said...

KC..You are a hero. I credit this development very largely to your work at exposing this fraud.

Anonymous said...

KC is emptying the bins.

Thanks for all you have done. I already have your book on order. Still waiting for Wahneema's from the publisher, though...funny that.

Anonymous said...

JLS says....

Over on FreeRepublic I conjectured about some of the things that could happen today:

1. The AG could dismiss the charges with no comments.

2. The AG could dismiss the charges saying that they did not think the charges could be sustained in a court of law.

3. The AG could dimiss the charges saying there was scant evidence that the accused had committed any crime.

4. The AG could dimiss the charges and announce charges against Nifong, Wilson, Gottlieb and Himan.

Ordinarily I would bet on 1 or 2. With the defendants gathering I am a bit more hopeful about 3 or 4. But then maybe the defendants are gathering to make a full court PR press declaring they are innocent.

Anonymous said...

JLS says...,

re: anon 11:18

Professor Johnson is not merely emptying the bins. He is preparing himself and us to have the correct context for Nifong's Friday hearing.

This has been a complicated matter. It is easy to forget details. The better brushed up on details we have learned previously we are for the Nifong hearing, the better understanding we should have.

Gary Packwood said...

Kyle 12:08
Good comments.
Why don't you keep a notebook record - like a diary - over the next six months of what you see and hear at your job. Save some of the campus newspapers and pictures.
I'll bet you will see and hear about some amazing changes and debates.
Something to talk about with your grandkids someday...many years from now.
Duke in the year 2007 when it is the year 2037.
GP

Gary Packwood said...

Anonymous 1:25

You made me think of something when you made the observation about the complexity of this case. You are most certainly correct.
Having worked with both TV and print media I think I would advise that everyone avoid the TV media if you want to make any comments other than a 'standard remark'.

This case is about systemic corruption and that requires a thoughtful print journalist to sort out the words and concepts.

I would recommend the Wall-Street Journal.

GP

texasyank said...

Somebody pour me a double.

Anonymous said...

"...a spokeswoman for the Attorney General confirmed to ABC News..."

Interesting choice of media, that.

Anonymous said...

First and least importantly, I was just becoming a reader of DiW when the Marcotte brouhaha erupted. Can someone connect the dots for me: Was it really her insane ravings about this case that began her undoing?

Second, while I hope this chapter will end with the freeing of the Duke 3, I hope that won't be the end of the book. What I mean is that unless we want to see black supremacism triumph throughout American social institutions -- where the higher caste blacks possess free passes for blatant race-hatred and college admission and government-contracting preferences, while lower caste whites are cowed and silenced on even issues like the realities of interracial crime -- we must view this Duke Lacrosse Hoax as only a thin chapter in a much larger volume of work.

Our enemies veer between arrogance and fear. But sometimes our enemies see the battlefield more clearly than we. One of the 88 (was it Holloway?) wrote of this case, "White innocence equals black guilt." Now of course we would object to her including brave professors like Coleman on the "black guilt" side of the ledger, but she is certainly on to something. "Lacrosse innocence equals Group of 88 guilt", of that there can be no doubt. But of course the lacrosse team was the metaphor for all-things-white, and the 95% black vote Nifong received after it was obvious Nifong's case was a sham gives ample support for Holloway's(?) contention about this case that "white innocence equals black guilt".

More importantly, we must think about this case as the "micro-narrative" that perfectly matches their "meta-narrative". Indeed, the micro-narrative (this case) is unimaginable outside of the pressure-cooker of the meta-narrative. The dancer had the DNA of 5-7 men in her: Why did she claim it was white lacrosse players who raped her? (Just a guess, but I'm betting her new baby isn't bi-racial.) Because of the meta-narrative. Why are tens of thousands of real interracial rapes each year allowed to pass in shameful silence? Because of the meta-narrative. Why are tens of thousands of whites, and increasingly, Asians, each year either forced to attend lower quality educational institutions or prohibited from attending college at all? Because of the meta-narrative. And yet, if we put the meta-narrative under as close an examination as Prof. Johnson put the micro-narrative, we will find that it is equally false.

I'm afraid I've gone on too long and I don't want to hijack this thread. I hope this case and the attention to it of some parculiarly intelligent people will actually help lead to a society where, as MLK said, my young children will be judged by "the content of their character and not the color of their skin." If not, I say only half-jokingly, then I suppose melanin injections are an alternative for children like mine.

Anonymous said...

Good suggestion from Gary P. about writing to the Wall Street Journal letters section. Washington Post would be a decent second choice. Don't waste time writing to the newsroom of the New York Times. If you write to the Times, write to members of the board of directors, who probably care about the lousy performance of the company under Sulzberger's direction. Newsweek might like to hear from you because of the infamous cover. And don't forget Melanie Sill, who still hasn't explained the inflammatory late March (2006) coverage, at the News & Observer. Joe Neff, however, deserves a thank-you note.

texasyank said...

Hamilton: it was Marcotte's Duke ravings that brought attention to her content, which then mvoed right-minded people to bounce around her site for other stuff to discover.

That's the time-line as I understand it. Then, of course, Marcotte responded to the criticism by deleting all the offending entries.

Anonymous said...

Only in North Carolina - Roy Cooper is in the hospital. Could have put money on something like this happening. Hope this is not, a one man office.

Anonymous said...

The AG will Dismiss With Prejudice all charges against the Duke Three.

Anonymous said...

ABC news reports that all charges will be dropped.

Anonymous said...

Great job, KC! Keep up the pressure on these amoral bastards. There is hope for this country yet, though it won't come from the political jellyfish who will do the right thing only if it is safe, obvious and presents opportunity.

A great way to honor the life and work of Kirk Osborn and others like him would be to use the debacle as a torch and continue confronting the wrongs of the criminal justice industry, targeting subtle and overt corruption of certain police, judges and prosecutors. It doesn't have to be as bad as it is, but it will continue to be as bad as we tolerate. Police, judges and prosecutors are not special people, they are average people. And the current CJS is open for abuse by evil people both inside and outside the industry. Bill Anderson, please keep fighting the good fight.

Anonymous said...

KC,

This is not quite a comment on your post, but there is great news! ABC is reporting that the charges are being dropped, finally!
http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3028515&page=1

Anonymous said...

Nightline tonight - 11:30PM - PDST KC on show -

Anonymous said...

"What I mean is that unless we want to see black supremacism triumph throughout American social institutions -- where the higher caste blacks possess free passes for blatant race-hatred and college admission and government-contracting preferences, while lower caste whites are cowed and silenced on even issues like the realities of interracial crime -- we must view this Duke Lacrosse Hoax as only a thin chapter in a much larger volume of work".

Bad news: it's too late. Decades of affirmative action and racial favouritism have seen to that. And there's little chance of a change soon. As long as "social justice" is defined in terms of race rather than class, that will be the case in America. Just be grateful you are not poor and white.

Anonymous said...

I look forward with great anticipation the public statements of Reade, Collin, and Dave and the rest of the players once the charges are dropped. I am sure they will act as the composed, honorable, stand up young me we know they are.

I hope they are able to adequately convey just what effect the actions and inactions of Duke faculty and other hoax enablers have had on them and their families and friends.

I hope they are able to return to school in a place where their teachers support them instead of despising them.

I hope Durham and Duke pay for their roles.
I hope Kim Curtis never teaches again.
I hope John Burness "gets a conscience and not a lawyer."
I hope they recover the funds their families needlessly wasted on this sham.
I hope they come face to face with Mike Nifong and are present in a courtroom when he is disbarred and jailed.

I hope Crystal Mangum gets the help she needs AND pays for her crimes.

Most of all I hope these ridiculous, false, should have never been filed charges are finally put in the crapper where they always belonged tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

I am watching ABC news now in Seattle. They have report on saying charges are dismissed.

Anonymous said...

Lawyers - What does with prejudice mean?

Anonymous said...

All:

Don't get your hopes up about a prosecution of Nifong by our AG. I could be wrong, but I don't see it coming to pass.

Anonymous said...

While I am not a lawyer, a quick google search reveals that dropping charges with prejudice means that the same charges cannot be brought again. This is a good thing, except to Nifong.

Anonymous said...

Whereas once the pots were banged in hatred, today let us bang them in celebration

joe sweet said...

Gentlemen:

Let the Civil Suits begin!

Anonymous said...

'"...a spokeswoman for the Attorney General confirmed to ABC News..."

Interesting choice of media, that.'

Amen.

ABC...Already Been Castrated?

Blackstone said...

The end of the beginning!

joe sweet said...

What happened to yesterday's "all court press" on these boards from the Nifongistas?

Todays' posts are all about truth and justice, but what about denial and revisionism? Did "something happen"?

And where have all the potbangers gone?

KC,

Your work has been absolutely magnificent, and deeply appreciated. I look forward to your book, and to justice prevailing. I look forward to seeing the 3 young men, formerly from Duke, have this huge weight lifted from their shoulders, and I look forward to seeing the perpetrators of this vile, evil Hoax pay dearly for their misdeeds.

This is clearly a day of hope, thanks much to the work of KC et al.

Michael said...

Just watching Nightline on YouTube right now. This production looks like it was written by the defense.

Waiting to see KC on this video.

Nice job on the whole hoax, KC.

Anonymous said...

I hope you guys go on a book signing tour - I'd like to get an autographed copy and shake your hand...

Richard

Anonymous said...

i hope this is the end of the beginning so i can finally cancel my subscription to herald sun.

Michael said...

KC, now an ABC News Consultant.

I'm guessing that Cash isn't on this video. Or Mr. Rud. Or Ms. Marcotte.

Anonymous said...

"Cathy Davidson published an N&O op-ed describing the Group’s ad as a response to racist defenses of Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty, and Dave Evans “on the campus quad” sometime between March 29 and April 6."

Translation: People who disagree with Cathy Davidson are racists.

Anonymous said...

Amanda Marcotte made numerous insulting and vile comments on her website about a number of subjects--not just the Duke case--that ultimately led to her downfall.

"With prejudice" is very important language that not only means the charges may not be brought against the defendants again, but implies the charges were found to be deeply flawed. Use of this language means much more than there simply was not enough evidence to support the charges. It implies an exoneration, and it is very important the language is used when the charges are dismissed.

Hooray, hooray, hooray for KC Johnson, Bill Anderson, Liestoppers and the other bloggers in this case. We love you. You have ushered in a new era of journalism and a new standard in truth telling. God bless you.

What continues to gall me are the baseless insults ignorant people continue to hurl at the defendants. I hope so much (as we all do) that the AG will use language powerful enough in his dismissal of the charges to set the record really straight.

Observer

Anonymous said...

Congratulations, KC!

Great job on the ABC interview;
INCREDIBLE job of keeping
the record straight on this whole
sordid miscarriage of justice -
(and getting the record straight
when it was bent and skewed by MSM
and the Hoaxers.)

Mr. Nifong is now Mr. NoFang.

To the Hoaxers, regarding their
discreditable behavior:

"It's Only Just Begun."

Mac

Anonymous said...

Hallelujah. The case is over, right has prevailed, and these boys can have some semblence of their lives back.

J. Kaiser
http://totaltransformation.wordpress.com

Anonymous said...

KC; don't be shy about plugging your book the next couple of days.

Anonymous said...

Nofing-isms:

- Having created the image of Duke players raping a Black girl in Durham and taking it to the world, coming out with the "I don't want the image of Durham in the eyes of the world to be of Duke players raping a Black girl."

- "I don't think I'm part of the problem, I want to be part of the solution."


In other news, Jessie is going to award his "Don't Strip, Scholarship!" today and the students at NC Central are holding a rally to reprise thier demands that procesution continue, even though it is provable that NOTHING happened.

Anonymous said...

I've not seen anywhere that charges will be dropped with prejudice. ABC News is reporting only that they will be dropped. While I'd love for it to happen with prejudice, I need to see it reported somewhere.

Anonymous said...

So far, on this rainy Wednesday morning in Durham, nothing. We have waited a year, and perhaps now we will hear some good news. I remain guarded, however, as the group in power does not have to do the right thing. We will know soon if in fact the rule of law can resurface here in NC.

Anonymous said...

Pick-a-Prof

Pick-a-Prof

It would make interesting reading to see how the Gang of 88, Peter Wood,and others fare.

Anonymous said...

One thing we can count on.

None of the hoax enablers will admit they were wrong. None will express any regret for their words or actions. Judging from their actions to date, they are all too small to do that.

Any comments made will be along the lines of what has already been expressed -- you can't blame us; why shouldn't we have believed the DA and police when they told us they had a slam-dunk case. They can lie to themselves, but they can't lie to us.

The hoax enablers went well beyond simply believing Nifong, Gottlieb, et. al. Several in the media printed outright lies (such as the statement that the LAX players were not cooperating with LE during the early stages of the investigation) or slanted the coverage in favor of Mangum by referring to her as the "victim." Nifong, Gottlieb, Wilson, Himan -- liars all. They should all be terminated immediately and left to deal with any resulting civil litigation. With his agreement to participate in Nifong's scheme to withhold exculpatory evidence, Meehan completely compromised the responsibility entailed in running a laboratory for DNA analysis. There is no way he should be allowed to continue to operate a laboratory.

The Gang of 88 and fellow travelers who didn't sign, but did believe in their cause will still argue that white male athletes of "privilege" continue to trample on the rights of downtrodden minorities wherever a forum is presented for them to do so, including the worthless classes they teach and books and manuscripts they write. They will secretly curse that their "perfect victim / perfect accused" scenario didn't pan out, but vow to keep searching in the hope that "maybe next time...". I like to think that one of the benefits to come out of this whole sordid mess is that a few students will wake up and realize that they want to stay as far away as possible from their cancer.

Last, members of organizations such as the administration at Duke (including the trustees and Brodhead) and the NCNAACP have some real soul-searching to do for the lack of character they exhibited for the last 13 months. They, too, will lie to themselves that they acted honorably, but those of us not so heavily invested in the politics the situation presented know otherwise.

A hearty "well done" to Prof.Johnson (I look forward to the book), Prof. Anderson, and Prof. Coleman for showing us that not everyone connected to academia has been consumed by political correctness.

Anonymous said...

According to CNN, announcement to be made by AG at 2:30.

Anonymous said...

"Your work has been absolutely magnificent, and deeply appreciated. I look forward to your book, and to justice prevailing. I look forward to seeing the 3 young men, formerly from Duke, have this huge weight lifted from their shoulders, and I look forward to seeing the perpetrators of this vile, evil Hoax pay dearly for their misdeeds."

"This is clearly a day of hope, thanks much to the work of KC, et al."

Couldn't say it better. Let the recriminations begin!

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 12:13:00 AM said...

When this case is dismissed tomorrow it's going to be interesting to see how the various hoax enablers deal with the fact that they were wrong.


Have no delusions they will ever admit they were wrong. Just like Columbus' silly foolish detractors, their world is flat and will remain flat and regardless of what proof is offered there will no admission that the entire world is not flat.

Anonymous said...

KC,
I've been a daily reader and occasional commenter on this blog. I am looking forward to your book. However, I am concerned about one thing. Is the book going to contain anything more than what we have been reading here on your blog for the last year? You have been a prodigious writer of the subject on the blog. Will the book contain information that you haven't already covered?

Anonymous said...

news conference 2:30 EST.

Meanwhile, professional racists (yes I mean you Jesse Jackson) have moved on. See CNN front page.

Gary Packwood said...

Houston Local News

Fox news in Houston this morning is showing the video clip of Reade walking through the airport.

Anonymous said...

News conference will be held at the RBC Center to accomodate the media.

Anonymous said...

9:46
As to whether KC's book will
include more material than
is so far included in DIW:

You can rest assured that KC
hasn't revealed all of his
source-materials. Some of
the questions that he hasn't
answered - (not that he's
obligated to answer them) -
point toward some deep-sourcing.
I think the book will be
fascinating - and I'm guessing
it'll include interviews with
characters who aren't currently
on the radar screen.

But that's just my opinion.

Mac

joe sweet said...

All I can say at this point is, through this outstanding blog, over the course of a very long year we've watched, and in some small way contributed to, living, breathing history.

KC's masterpiece!

...and the wheels of justice grind on.

jimmayhall said...

The Duke case seems to recapitulate the Salem Witch Trials. I would have thought that humanities professors would have been fascinated by this phenomenon. Is someone investigating the many parallels between this case and the Salem Witch Trials? Now, like then, is a time when hysteria rules.

Anonymous said...

KC,
I am Anonymous 9:46, what I failed to mention is that I think you are one of the outstanding heros in this case.

I have said before, I believe if anyone deserves a Pulitzer Prize, it is you.

Anonymous said...

Jimmayhall,

Should be "ruled,"
past-tense, fini,
over-and-done-with,
now that the accused
have -(apparently)-
been lifted off the
barbeque.

What should ensue is
NOT a Salem-type trial,
especially since the accusers
have basically accused themselves.

There is an old story in the
Apocryphal Book of Susanna
about a young woman named
(not surprisingly) Susanna:
she is falsely accused
by two old wretches who had
intended to have their way
with her. She refused, gave
out a cry, and they accused her
of engaging in sex with an unnamed
man who had escaped.
She, of course, would be left to bear
the brunt of the encounter -
the encounter which did not
happen.
Daniel, the Prophet,
very young at the time,
arranged to meet with the accusers
separately, and proceeded to ask
them which tree Susanna supposedly
was having sex under. Their
answers varied, one not agreeing
with the other.
As a result, the people saw that
Susanna's testimony was correct,
and stoned the two accusers - a
fate that awaited Susanna had
not the hoax been exposed.

One hoax that didn't result in
justice, but still had a happy
ending is the case of Joseph,
falsely accused by Potifer's
evil wife. Eventually, as
the story goes, and after being
freed from prison, Joseph saved
both Egypt and Israel.

Other such hoaxes include the
false charges against Daniel:
after the lions didn't touch
him, the accusers - and their
families - were thrown in to be
devoured themselves.

Perhaps justice isn't so harsh
today for false accusers.
But maybe it should be.
On the other hand, perhaps
the falsely accused in this
case will become Josephs in
their own right.

Mac

Anonymous said...

KC - i am hoping you are keeping the name DIW for your nexr book on the event. Including the role of the blogesphere would be great,

Anonymous said...

ACLU, DOJ and Innocent Project still missing in action after a year.

Anonymous said...

9:03 I would be happy to just see their faces at 2:30PM

Anonymous said...

9:46 inre: Book and new material

Regardless of whether any new material is introduced, the book is critically important. I've pre-purchase several copies to give to people who I know who are well educated and yet have no idea of the depth of the corruption and injustice. All either attended Duke, give money to Duke, or have boys who are currently in college.

As mentioned by others who have had conversations with others about how the boys shouldn't have had a stripper party or beer, I've had several similar conversations. Their complete lack of understanding of the prosecutorial injustice, the institutional fraud, and the media bias has forever demonstrated to me that we all operate in vacuums and that sometimes the truth needs to be broadcast.

The book is for those that are not familiar. It needs to be provided from people like you and I so all the world can understand what is/has happened in Durham and specifically at Duke. This event is a flash-point for change at many, many levels.