It is in the interest of justice and the effective administration of criminal justice that Mr. Nifong immediately withdraw and recuse himself from the prosecution of these cases and request the cases be assigned to another prosecutorial authority.I am unware of any such document, in any state, issued to a district attorney prosecuting a case by his fellow chief prosecutors. The symbolism of this move is obvious: the state's elected District Attorneys have issued a public statement of no confidence in Mike Nifong.
Friday, December 29, 2006
Conference of D.A.'s: Recuse
In yet another extraordinary development, the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys has issued a public letter to Mike Nifong, demanding that he recuse himself from the lacrosse case:
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114 comments:
Fantastic! They are coming out of the shadows, long knives drawn, intent on ending this nightmare --- sadly only now that they are shielded by others...
7 of them signed it.
I doubt that they arrainged this since yesterday. They must have been discussing it prior to the Bar action or knew about the Bar action.
astonishing indeed. They also hint that they have been pressuring him to recuse himself for months.
I guess the Duke 88 will be Nifong's last stonghold.
Please post a link to the letter.
The letter, please the letter....
Will cases Mr Nifong prosecuted now be open for review due to his handling of this one? this could be quite a mess
stunning, just stunning!
You know it's bad when you have other D.A. telling you to step down.
No one wants to be anywhere near that man when the axe falls, and I hope it hits him right in the head.
KC did you get my e-mail?
Even if this is lost on Nifong, I can assure all of you that it is NOT lost on Judge W. Osmond Smith III. I have full confidence that the judge will act if Nifong continues this foolishness.
I suppose that his office right now is reminiscent of the Nixon White House in the last days of Watergate. It must be wonderful, just wonderful, to go to work at the DA's office these days. Just wait until the swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday. Is there a judge that will do it? Perhaps Stephens, since he was in on this hoax from the beginning.
do you think that the swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday will be public? I can't believe he would show up for that, when, according to another comment, the process could be administered by a notary public... in private.
Have to wonder if, the "good ole boys" in NC are trying to tell Nifong not to get sworn in on Jan 2.
They are all moving quickly right before a holiday weekend.
The powers that be might want this mess to end by Nifong resigning.
I want to wish Nifong and Cy, the fool who married him a "Happy New Year" because it may be their last. Hopefully the DOJ will look into Gottlieb and Himans lawbreaking activities in this hoax.
I'd really like to know what "unsolicited assistance" the Conference offered Mikey all the way back in Spetember, which "assistance has not been accepted to date."
::..snicker..::
God forgive me, I am starting to feel sorry for Mike Nifong.
I fully realize that he doesn't deserve pity, but I can't help it.
Sure Jery Lynn I feel sorry for Saddam also, but he still needs to be hanged.
Anon at 7:45
You are correct. We can feel compassion--but we must allow consequences to those who commit evil.
Nifong has committed evil acts as has Saddam.
NDLax84 said...
I'd really like to know what "unsolicited assistance" the Conference offered Mikey all the way back in Spetember, which "assistance has not been accepted to date."
NDLax84, below is a quote from the WRAL site regarding the assistance. Offer included a practice jury. Nifong apparently wanted no part of a practice jury.
"The conference said it had offered Nifong several different kinds of assistance in September, including additional assistant district attorneys and a practice jury."
While politically very different, the parallels between George W. Bush and his enabers and the misfits who support Mike Nifong are eeriely similar.
Once so brash and full of bravado, both Bush and Nifong are now cowering, sniveling, exposed, humiliated and disgraced.
On one hand, you have pathological liars like Wendy Murphy who embarrasses herself nightly with one asinine statement after the other; yet this compares almost identically to the bizarre enabling of GW Bush from people like morbidly obese, thrice divorced, impotent, drug addict, draft dodger Rush Limbaugh.
The comparisons continue right down the line:
The pitiful Group of 88 versus conservative talk radio. Despicable Nancy Grace and her equally despicable counterpart Bill O'Reilly. The ridiculous bias of the Herald-Sun and NY Times with the equally pathetic bias of Fox News and its coverage of the President.
While the subject matter is vastly different, *identical* adjectives can be used to describe each person and each group of enablers.
Fascinating.
Mr. Underhill
Gov. Easley appointed Nifong. His term expires on Dec 31. Couldn't Easley unappoint him on Dec 30 and appoint someone else for a day? And that person could drop the charges...Easley probably won't do it...He is trying to get re-elected by the same demographics that Nifong played to.
I don't feel any pity for Nifong. All of this couldn't have happened to a better man.
No, of course Easley isn't going to un-appoint Nifong.
Acceptance of the practice jury or help from another DA would have exposed the evidence (or lack thereof) to an outside party.
LEC
Have the other lawyers in Nifong's office been publicly identified yet? If not, then it should be done so immediately. They need to know that if they don't resign immediately, their careers as lawyers in NC are very much in jeopardy. Put the other way, they need to know that only by resigning can they save their careers.
The pressure needs to be put on them to resign en masse within the next 48 hours.
While this interesting request by the 7 DAs may be lost on the ever arrogant fong, the fong has to pay attention to the Defense's filing of a notice of intent to call Dr. Brian Mehan as an expert witness today. The next to last paragraph of the lengthy filing basically states that the defense intends to question Dr. Mehan regarding the exclusion of exculpatory DNA evidence by the prosecution and other representatives of the State of NC. While this information has already come to light, I suspect it will still be very uncomfortable for the fong and the PD to be shredded again in open court in new and even more excruciating ways by the sharp defense attorneys.
Orange Lazarus
Nifong's elfs should be afraid of where this will end. Does anyone believe that Meehan's lawyer isn't telling him to make a deal? First one to talk, walks.
Sword of Justice:
In the first 6 months that Nifong was DA, at least 8 ADAs resigned. I suspect that kind of turnover wasn't a coincidence. Some that remained in the office are good, honest, hardworking folks who just want to do right in Durham. Others are Nifong sycophants. Don't paint them all with one brush.
Mr. Underhill 7:51pm--- What a damned stupid analogy.
George Bush made mistakes, but not for his own gain or to harm someone using "race" to pimp a dirty ho'.
You need to sit back, relax, and then go back to school. Stupid mo'fo' !
I certainly don't want to taint the non-sycophants, but the fact of the matter is they will be tainted by the legal profession if they don't leave of their own free will.
What the heck is an Orange Lazarus?
Professor Johnson-
Thanks for your precise, highly readable accounts of how Mike Nifong abandoned the objective methods of criminal investigation and prosecution that he had apparently practiced for much of his professional life. Nifong has ruined himself, dimmed the life prospects of his victims, and turned the Durham County District Attorney's Office into an absurdist drama - Durham in Wonderland, indeed.
At the same time, for those of your readers, like myself, that have no training in criminal law, your posts have also been an education on the rational methods of normal criminal prosecutions.
Finally, your posts have provided a "ringside" seat on the North Carolina legal system's successful homeostatic battle against Nifong's sustained rogue prosecution.
I've noticed some posters say Governor Easley went to law school at UNC-Chapel Hill but he didn't. Mike Nifong went there.
Easley graduated from NCCU where Irving Joyner teaches. That shows you just what a simpleton he is.
At this point its just a matter of time for Nifong to be disbarred.
Once he is off the case, the bar can issue new charges on the lineup and the DNA coverup.
Once he's off the case, the DOJ can investigate him without affecting the case.
Most likely whoever takes over the case with drop it after reviewing the lack of evidence. Who knows maybe they will talk with the "victim"?
After the charges are dropped, the state will want to investigate before the feds, in order to save face.
The walls are closing in on Nifong.
And what group at Duke will be willing to come out of the shadows and ask Brodhead to step down from his position?
I'm certain that there's been a 'Conference of Nifong's ADA's' held periodically, if not regularly, for at least the last several months. The Conference is deeply divided on what to do and how best to do it.
The differences have distilled down to 2 clear factions - those who want to check the political & leagal weather by sticking a wetted finger in the air, and those who prefer the dipping-of-the-toe-in-the-increasing-hot-water method.
Can you imagine the conversations that have been going on between ADA's for months now? Who knows what, and when's the best time to cut a deal? I'm especially looking forward to hearing from Ashley Cannon.
Now, all serious aside, after this case is taken care of, who anong you will join me in going after the idiot at WRAL who decided it was a good idea to post case docs in Flash rather than pdf format?
That bastard should be hung! ;>)
Other than the women's lacrosse coach and James Coleman, have any Duke professors spoken publicly in defense of the lacrosse players? (Mike Munger's very late support was too little, too late.)
It would be interesting to know what will be the case a year from now. Back in April, I figured that Nifong would hold all of the cards, and pretty much predicted that he could get a conviction, not because he was telling the truth, but because of the power of his office.
Thanks to good attorneys and this wonderful blogosphere, I can say with great happiness that my predictions were wrong, wrong, wrong. So, while I have no idea what will be the case a year from now, let me say that I believe that it will be a happier new year for most readers on this blog than it will be for Mr. Nifong.
So, let me wish all of you, except Mikey, a most Happy New Year.
And I think that a year from now, Mikey will be unemployed and at least under indictment, if not investigation. I have no idea what will be the situation at Duke, but I dearly hope that justice will be served over there, too.
Brodhead's dog and pony show will be a failre. All Duke alumni should contact the Board of Trustees--B has to go
To Bill Anderson--
Just saw your post to me from a few nights ago.
What do you want? I don't have your e-mail address.
Debrah
6:49 In some ways we are the same - how many of us (including myself) post some or all posts as anonymous.
Haven't yet tracked down a link to the letter--if anyone has it, please post.
Debrah,
My email is at the end of my Lew Rockwell articles. I just think it best never to give my email here, as Mikey might get it and send me a nasty note that would hurt my feelings.
Ladies, Gents, and Mikeys, this is a most wonderful evening. I did not think this would be the case, and I am glad to eat crow, as long as it has some kosher salt on it.
I have my violin nearby, and it is time to practice. I started last summer, and at least am past the point where animal control officer break into the house to find who is torturing cats. A year from now, I am going to be decent on this thing.
By the way, here it is on Friday night, and WE ARE STARING AT OUR COMPUTER MONITORS!! Has anyone realized that Mikey turned us into zombies?!? I'm suing him. Big time.
KC & all:
Here's the link to the WRAL Flash version of the Dec. 29, 2006: Statement from the N.C. Conference of District Attorneys
The Conference site looks kinda lame, and only 7 of the 42 NA DA's signed it, but it is an important symbolic gesture I think.
Dear Bill,
I have your email address. I've just discovered a quite good $10 bottle of wine, a cabernet suuvignon shiraz combo by Mad Fish--it's a 2000 vintage from western australia
How's the wife and kids?
Things are a bit down now, bit I'm an optimistic kinda guy.
God bless you and KC for your great work.
Yours sincerely'
Michael Nifong
PS my wife's probably going to divorce me for being a sleazy doofus, so I was wondering if you could get me Debrah's phone number. I hear a couple of glasses of cheap chabis and she's yours.
a bientot mon frere!
One of the DAs is from neighboring Orange County, which I think is significant. Also, me thinks that if there are any DAs in the state who disagree, they will keep their mouths shut.
When your supporters are down to Georgia Goslee, Victorial Price, and Wendy Murphy, you are past fourth down. You have fumbled in your own end zone.
To Bill Anderson 9:01 and 9:03PM--
LOL!!!
Well.....you have to admit, this story is rivetting....and KC provides an exquisite stage....so it's been difficult to wean oneself away.
Was out of town yesterday. Just rying to skim some posts this evening.
Besides, who has the time to go out every night of the week? Even I can't do that anymore!
:>)
Debrah
from a non-lawyer: reading the link provided by gprestonian is helpful. But in this statement, it refers to a letter sent to Nifong in September. It is not attached to this statement. I suspect KC wants a link to the letter sent to Nifong in September. Maybe I am missing something?
The seven signatories comprise the executive committee. The Conference as a whole probably gave them authority to issue whatever statement they felt proper.
GPrestonian said...
KC & all:
"......The Conference site looks kinda lame, and only 7 of the 42 NA DA's signed it, but it is an important symbolic gesture I think.
9:12 PM"
If you look at the letterhead the signers appear to be the members of the executive committee, so maybe the general DA members in all the counties were not asked to sign ?
Liestoppers notes that the 7 officers represent all the DAs.
To 9:16PM--
Tsk! Tsk!
Now, now......I see that yet another sleazy and disgruntled little Liberal has entered the room.
Or perhaps you are the same one who has been stalking me for a while.
I sympathize little man. You see, ever since I began making it "crystal" clear--pun intended--that Far Left Democrats, coupled with extortionist factions of the black community.....are the root cause of something like Mike Nifong being allowed to create such a mess.....
.....a few supporters of the lacrosse players who are Liberals have taken me on.
Sorry for my candor......but all the sleazy and cowardly effulgences you type and deposit on this board with your musty, arthritic, and pasty fingers.....
.....will not silence me.
Remember free speech, moron?
Now run along with your blow-up doll and your porno magazines.
Be gone!
Debrah
Debrah,
the noun "effulgence" means brilliant, so i don't quite get your meaning
i don't know any liberals on this blog that have my wit
vous-vous moquez moi vous
happy new year, and give Mad Fish products a try--relatively cheal and high quality
jc
Y'all are no doubt correct that it was the Exec Committee that signed the letter. The Conference site was notable by its paucity of information about the leaders of the Conference.
Haven't seen 'the' letter yet, the one to DeadManWalkingfong in Sept.
To Mikey of 9:16:
I will let you in on a secret; I am drinking a $7.50 bottle tonight, lovingly called plonk. You see, Mikey, I live on a professor's salary, not a DA's salary, although I suspect that you might be living on Cy's paycheck soon.
You know, Mikey, I bet you wish to heck that Freda had beaten you last May, and that you had listened to the cops who told you that Crystal was not exactly reliable.
But, you can come over and drink the plonk with me. Good stuff. Bottom of the barrel California zinfandel. (The red stuff, Mikey. I'm a heart patient. Gotta keep those arteries open.)
Deborah,
I *really* like your style. What law school did you go to?
Mad Fish - I found it to have a charming ambience and a marvelous perspicacity, and it won't fuck up the flavor of your cheeseburger! ;>)
Debrah,
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean their not after you...
I feel pity for Nifong too. However . . .
1. For the protection and reassurance of the public, he must never hold a position of power ever again. This is not a matter of punishment - it's a matter of incapacitation. Even if he's clinically insane, his law license should be suspended indefinitely.
2. He obviously understood the difference between right and wrong, as evidenced by his lying and obfuscation to cover up his misconduct. Therefore, society has the right and obligation to visit punishment upon him for the harm he has caused.
JMHO.
Oooops,
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not after you...
Mike C in AZ
To 9:37PM--
I didn't study law...although several family members, including an older brother, are attorneys.
I was a fine arts major.....and later found freelance writing a great hobby.
Oddly, if I enter a crowded room, I invariably wind up gravitating toward and talking to a little lawyer. LOL!
Probably because I love to argue.
:>)
Debrah
What proof do you have that Nifong did anything wrong. He was doing his job, isn't he innocent until proven guilty, just like the accused in this trial? You people don't have a leg to stand on.
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
Edmund Burke
Thank you, all of you GOOD men and women.
KC.LS, BA and every one of you good people who have brought this case to where it is now. Bravo thrice over.
NB: If any of you feel compassion overtaking you for Nifong,remember it could have been your sons who were going to go down for 30 years for a crime they did not commit.
Nifong is not to be pitied for the arrogant fool he is.This disgusting man and his cohorts were going to fit these boys up and not loose one wink of sleep.
Power corrupted our Little Napoleon and now he must pay his price to society for his lies and devious actions!
So, feel no compassion for Nifong or the crazy false accuser.
Save your compassion for the boys, there families and for the poor innocent child that the lying accuser carries and the miserable life he/she is going to be born into!
Wilt.
You people don't have a leg to stand on.
Nor does Nifong...
lol, nice try, we now have a 'theman' imitator! The complete sentence, proper punctuation, and use of capital letters at the apprpriate times gave you away as a mere shadow of 'theman' we've come to know & laugh at. ;>)
Congratulations are to be extended to "theman", for he managed to piece together a structurally correct sentence, and then follow it with two more!
Things are looking better by the moment.
When are we going to get some video from CGM's hideout?
So many sad endings of late.
Waiting with bated breath for news from Bagdad of Saddam's neck being snapped.
Debrah
Debrah - MSNBC says it's a done deal. Saddam finally reached the end of his rope.
jc,
Totally off topic, but I checked the Brooklyn Prep 1969 year book and see neither you or Mr. Browne as graduates? My kids go to a Jesuit school so I know they teach how to tell one year from the next :)
Still in Brooklyn
To gprestonian--
Yes, and it must have occurred just as I was typing. Ha!
Celebrations are taking place in Dearborn, MI......by Iraquis I presume.
Debrah
The NC Bar and the DA group are sure doing a CYA. They both state that they've been on this for months with files opened and assistance offered that was not accepted. This indicates that this is over. How can a man responsible for administering justice in the public trust get past this? No way out now. Nifong is in for the full weight of the consequences. Had he dropped these false charges months ago, he might have gotten away with it. He's too stubborn and ego driven. Too late Nifong. Your New Year is looming large.
i graduated in 1970, browne in 1969
name is James F. Clyne
artie's brother Bryant draduated with me in 1970Both Artie and I got our ABs at Boston College
my uncle is a Jesuit, Edmund Clyne
jc
Debrah
Ah, Dearbornistan, a sign that we are closer than we think to the problems that Britain faces.
To Cedarford:
I will not respond to the personal insults.
I will only say that the lawyers in Nifong's office are sworn to uphold the law and justice. By continuing to work with Nifong, they sanction the immoral and unjust actions of Durham's DA office.
It is immoral and therefore unjust for these lawyers to either not say something publicly against Nifong or to not resign.
As public servants, they shouldn't be allowed to have their cake and eat it too.
To gprstonian--
Good point; however, they've yet to eclipse the infiltration from south of the border.
Debrah
Debrah,
Would you have been willing to cut the rope?
To gprstonian--
Speaking of south of the border.......
The lacrosse players were reported to have asked for Hispanic or white strippers.
Just think. All of this might have been avoided if only they had gotten what they asked for.
?????
Debrah
Debrah that was adressed earlier in "sometimes you don't get what you ordered" post
To 10:31--
As in cutting the rope to save Saddam?
What good would that have done?
I might have been persuaded to provide the rope.....BTW.....I am pro-Israel all the way.
With the exception of the Persians (Iranians), Israelis are the only brilliant people in the Middle East. Too bad Iran has descended into such mania.
Israel is the only oasis in that sinkhole of madness.
Debrah
JC,
Let's talk about the rape shield law and the possibility of punishment for a false accuser. How would you recommend balancing the interest the justice system has in encouraging actual victims to come forward and protecting the constitutional rights of the defendant? It seems that most states allow evidence of sexual history if it relates directly to the case. It does bother me, however, that the Duke accuser's previous, nearly identical claim of rape will probably not be permitted as evidence in the unlikely event this case goes to trial.
As to punishment of the false accuser--this case seems demonstrably false on the rape charge, and I suppose she could be prosecuted by the prosecutor who takes over for Mr. Nifong. KC is correct in general, I believe, that a prosecutor's belief in the claim of the accuser is pretty good evidence that a claim is not false "beyond a resonable doubt." It will be the extremely unusual case where you can get a conviction for a false accusation, but I believe that, although rare, it happens now.
Videotape of the incident showing consent seems pretty strong evidence, and I understand there is at least one case where a false accuser was convicted based on the recording.
Maybe condom packages should contain a consent form. Or consent forms could be sold like legal pads but in the family planning aisle. I have seen a pretty funny skit showing a couple trying to negotiate a contract as to exactly what would be allowed before any sexual activity.
Observer
Does "prejudicial to the administration of justice" come close to meeting the standard for "obstruction of justice" for any of what Nifong is charged with or for which he could be charged?
jc.
will recheck the yearbook later and the class pictures for the other years but there was no picture of Browne??? So what parish? I was from the same parish as Donna Summer's husband's younger brother, a 69 grad.
Still in Brooklyn
Debrah,cut the rope to drop the noose sweetie, as in being the executioner.
"I'm not really into the irony of talking to reporters about allegations that I talked to reporters," Nifong said Friday.
AAAAAGH! The guy is still maddeningly smug.
If he isn't disbarred I will cry like a baby.
Debra is right about Durham. I've lived here since 1981 when I came to grad school at Duke and the poisonous combination of old New Left socialist white liberals (the People's Alliance) and an irresponsible and racist black leadership (Lavonia Allison, Jackie Wagstaff, et al, and the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People) that took over from the old responsible civil rights leaders has kept the city in turmoil ever since. You have to live here to understand how insidious this combination is. Those who think a local politician might think twice about railroading three innocent white Duke students is ill-informed. My theory is that Nifong is one of the looney lefties here who is willing to hang innocent people to make up for white sins of the past. That's how these people think. They wallow in their white guilt and love every minute of it.
Observer,
great post; have to watch "House" in 5 minutes, so I'll get back to u
btw, "House" is 1 of the best-written shows on TV
also recommend everyone read Marisha Pessl's brilliant debut novel, "Special Topics in Calamity Physics"
Mr Brooklyn: Donna Summer is still a piece of ass, and talented
Something tells me ur not from Brooklyn
where do u get the best pizza in brooklyn?
and don't consult zagat's--that's where the yuppies go
jc
What makes you think that false accusations are rare? Here's an abstract from a study done some time ago in the midwest:
ABSTRACT:
With the cooperation of the police agency of a small metropolitan community, 45 consecutive, disposed, false rape allegations covering a 9 year period were studied. False rape allegations constitute 41% of the total forcible rape cases (109) reported during this period. These false allegations appear to serve three major functions for the complainants: providing an alibi, seeking revenge, and obtaining sympathy and attention. False rape allegations are not the consequence of a gender-linked aberration, as frequently claimed, but reflect impulsive and desperate efforts to cope with personal and social stress situations. [False rape allegations are reported in similar numbers at college campuses; approximately 50% of rape charges are admitted to be false by the accuser.]
(# Kanin, Eugene J. (1994). False Rape Allegations. Archives of Sexual Behavior.)
jc,
Nope I am here in Brooklyn, Bay Ridge to be exact though I grew up south of Brooklyn College (OLHC). Believe it or not I do not like pizza, but out here everyone raves about Ginos (here in Bay Ridge) or Spumoni Gardens (in Bensonhurst).
Still in Brooklyn
i was born in bay ridge--grandfather lived at 79th and colonial road
hv to get back to brooklyn
back to House
jc
Chicago Writes:
Tons of rape allegations are false. The sad part of this is that it makes it even more difficult for actual rape victims to get justice served. I hate to speculate, but it is probably open season for rapists in Durham currently. I will give you two examples.
I attended college at a small private liberal arts school right outside of Chicago (hence the nickname I go by here).
Well, 4 years after graduating I was watching the news and heard that a rape had been reported in a dorm and on a floor that I had lived in. The person accused of the rape was "not a student and had entered the dorm as a non student.
I immediately thought, total BS. Here is why:
You need 3 keys to gain access to that floor and 4 to gain access to the room. You need one key for building access, another for access to the stairs, and another for access to that floor. Additionally, one would obviously needs a key to the room of the victim as well. Additionally, the floor in question was a co-ed floor, where both girls and guys lived. The rape allegedly took place at around 6am, so every guy on the floor would have been there and heard screams, awoke and helped the victim, or at very least, not allowed the criminal to get away.
Just as I predicted, just 1 week later the false accuser admitted she was lying and trying to get back at an ex. She was kicked out of school and arrested.
The second, a former female friend of mine told me she had been raped by a guy she worked with in her home. The two had been friends for a long time. The woman went on and on about it, crying etc. Well, two months later she got engaged to the guy. I am guessing she too was pissed at him about something, and the accusation was for revenge.
Don't miss Tony Soprano's INTERVIEW: Nifong on Nifong
Chicago said 11:26pm you are so right that most rape charges are false. 49% of all gang rape charges are false claims. and it is much higher for one on one rape stories.
I have been doing a lot of research on this topic as a victim myself.
Now because of Crystal's false claim and Nifong going after three innocent people the true victims won't want to report the crime.
Another "don't miss": A Tour of Things That Did Not Happen in Durham.
I think that 10:55 understands the culture of a place like Durham, which is unique in that it is becoming a Third World city, but has a world-class university in its borders. This is a very lethal brew because there really is no way to bridge those gaps, no matter how much good will is involved.
Furthermore, Duke is full of the old-line guilty white liberals who are very good at what they do, but feel guilty because of what they see around them. Forget the radicals on Duke's faculty; they are enabled by the white liberals, who know that the radicals perform inferior scholarship but in their minds justify all of this in the name of "diversity."
This is not to say that the radicals are stupid. Most of the professors of the Gang of 88 are intelligent people, but their academic work often IS inferior, but they are not made to follow the same standards of rigor that people in other departments follow.
This really is a cause of resentment -- but it is the radicals who are most resentful. They KNOW that at some level, they are not on the par with the rest of Duke's faculty, so they basically have learned how to take control of the governing apparatus so that they can make life harder for the productive people. This is a problem across academe, not just at Duke. The Larry Summers situation at Harvard a couple of years ago is an eloquent example.
They can talk diversity, cross-academic work and the like, but Duke and NCCU are as different as chalk and cheese. In the relationships between the two universities, the people at Duke come off as the condescending, but guilty whites.
Preceding Chan Hall's infamous comment was the statement that at the end, it would end up as "Duke up, Central down." The people at NCCU saw this as a way to one-up Duke. The wrongness of it all never occurred to them; as the Washington Post pointed out, this was purely political and doubting the accuser had political ramifications.
I am sure that when the charges finally are dropped, or the judge throws out the case, the people at Central and their allies will give us the "white boys and their high-price lawyers able to get them out of rape charges" nonsense. The people of NCCU and many of the black leaders of Durham simply never considered the ramifications of what they were doing, nor did they care.
Believe me, there will be some very bitter people in Durham when this case ends. Many in Durham simply will refuse to accept reality, preferring to believe that the white boy money stole the conviction for which the Durhamites were entitled.
I emailed the N&O today about their incorrect link to "Nifong's response to the State Bar" (which was really to the State Bar press release). Here's the reply I received:
Dear gprestonian,
The text for that link was incorrectly worded. We don't have a response from Nifong, although I certainly anticipate that we'll have something from him as part of the follow-up on that story today.
Thanks for letting us know.
Regards,
Marsha Blackburn
I'm going to thank her in reply & also ask if she's got the Conference's Sept letter to Nifong. ;>)
Observer,
let me address your first point and continue conversation tomorrow as this is an extremely important aspect of the case
so, how do we balance the interests of real victims with the constitutional rights of the accused? that is your 1st question, correct?
can i rephrase, counsel?
the first thing that needs to b done, imo, is for the police to determine if a legitimate charge has been filed--both accuser and accused should submit to sophisticated polygraph examinations--both accuser's and accused's criminal history should b looked at--study forensic and other evidence
such a vetting process would weed out a lot of false accusers (including Precious)
Conclusion: you cannot balance the interests of the accuser with the constitutional rights of the accused; if u try, men will lose every time
For the sake of debate, I'll take the position that rape-shield laws should b scrapped as antiquated relics of 60s-era femininism
from the accused's standpoint, they r vicious weapons of subterfuge
if a woman has a legitimate complaint, her legitimacy should be manifest--the doctor examining her, the psychiatrist, detective--all these professionals should be able to make a consistent diagnosis of sexual assault
my argument has 1 main problem: how to protect the rights of the mentally ill and sex workers--these 2 groups should have "protections," but i don't know what they should b
the best thing society can do to protect the privacy of the accuser is to provide a) competent emergency room doctors, b) sharp detectives, c) good investigators, d) perceptive jurists, and e) intelligent jurors
I was falsely accused--don't have time to give you the details, but the scenario might be beneficial in trying to concoct an optimal legal solution to the proverbial hesaidshesaid
a demain
jc
["As prosecutors, we do not try our cases in the media. We do not file charges frivolously," Marquis, who is active in the National District Attorneys Association, told ABC News.]
Quote from ABC news article a few hours ago. That second sentence looks pretty damning.
[the first thing that needs to b done, imo, is for the police to determine if a legitimate charge has been filed--both accuser and accused should submit to sophisticated polygraph examinations]
I don't know if a polygraph test
would work with someone that is
psychotic and experiencing
hallucinations and/or delusions.
People with schizophrenia, bipolar
and depression are more likely to
have bouts of psychosis moreso
than the general population.
I would hope that the AV was under
the care of a psychologist and a
psychiatrist long-term for her
problem. The psychologist could be
a source of information on the
validity of a claim if there are
no privacy issues involved.
we'll get back to this issue, but i'll tell u what it boils down to when u really have to split hairs: it's not h/she said, it's h/she perceived: ie, both parties may b telling the "truth"--in such a scenario, a poly is still a worthwhile tool
if that's the case, then traditional definitions of rape r ludicrous
more on this tomorrow
jc
KC, paul hollander has a good article on case at FrontPage--he compares it to tawana brawley
JC and Michael,
Polygraphs seem reasonable to me. I am traveling today, so I'll get back to you tomorrow sometime!
Observer
Today's Print Edition N&O:
Should be online as well but an individual wrote in to dispute Martinez's column, ie, that the group of 88 were against the Duke players etc. Says only racism sexism etc addressed in general and not at all related to the rape case.
Sort of amusing. I wonder what the relation is to an 88 member (if he is not one).
It is, however, an attempt to allow Duke faculty to escape all responsibilty for their actions.
It is in the interest of higher education and the pursuit of truth that the Duke 88 immediately resign from Duke University and request that their politically-biased classes be assigned to other more intellectually honest faculty.
In answer to Sword of Justice's 8:45 pm post, Michael Gustafson of the engineering faculty has been a supporter--it took him a while to emerge, though he beat Munger.
To: 1:09 George D
Exactly right!
Happy New Year to all - looking forward to 2007 (remember in 1999 when people thought planes would be falling from the sky as we enter the Millinium?- Here we are almost celebrating the new year. Thank God for the internet and the bloggers. Who would have thought the web would turn into such a voice for justice?
Sadly this case is only unusual in the publicity it got.
Corruption is Routine
Now what would be a big deal is if the State Bar came out against routine corruptioin. Corruption so routine there is a name for it.
Testilying. (which is only one aspect)
"sadly, this case is unusual...for all its publicity"
that's true, to an extent
certainlt precious's behavior is quotidian enough, but not meehan's and nifong's behavior
the good thing is that this case raises a lot of interesting issues, legal and otherwise, that will be debated in the scholarly journals and MSM:
1. morality of rape shield laws
2. morality of dumbed-down standards for black professors who teach subjects of questionable merit
3. openly questioning whether black studies, by definition, attracts black racists
4. opens up discussion of men's rights--eg, should false accusations b considered a felonious sex crime
5. opens up questions about prosecutorial immunity
not quite unusual, d'accord?
jc
Cedarford:
Your moral obtuseness reminds one of Stephen Douglas. Your arguments on this blog are about as helpful as Douglas's doctrine of popular sovereignty was in preventing the spread of slavery into the territories. Lincoln was right to see Douglas's "don't care" as representing the avante garde of the proslavery movement despite the fact that Douglas was opposed to slavery.
You're playing the same role on this site.
sword,
the best thing to do about the 88 is to urge students to boycott their classes--think there r a lot of dukies who r fed up
in the real world, the thing to do is remove brodhead and get a conservative pres to gradually dismantle the 88's welfare fiefdom
bon chance, mon frere, and don't eat the yellow snow
jc
JC:
I couldn't agree more.
It's been almost embarrassing to watch Cedarford come unbottoned psychologically, and in such a public forum. He's the Neville Chamberlain version of "TheMan."
I'm not a psychologist, so I feel helpless to offer the Cedar any kind of help or advice.
The Sword of Justice
JC 1257PM,
All good points. And yes helpful.
However none of that goes to the core issue of the corruption of law enforcement and the "justice" system by drug prohibition.
A similar effect was noted during alcohol prohibition.
Nifong is not a "bad apple". He is part of a system. The system worked in the usual way. SOP.
MS, we're not living in a banana republic--nifongissimus is definitely an aberration--the drug laws have nothing to do with this case--sure, all drugs should b legal and we'd b able to tax them
don't mix your legal metaphors--and not all lawyers r sleazy
sword, think you're a bit hard on cedarford: he's rightfully sceptical about the possibility of reforming the system--nothing wrong with a little sarcasm
people have to start using their real names, influence, etc to put things right at Duke
the 88 attempted a coup:
now come da pain
u dig?
jc
Mike Nifong eat shit and die
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