Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Civil Suit Preview
Liestoppers has a full rundown on a just-released police document--the Gottlieb "time-line" of early April 2006. It documents far more extensive involvement in the case than we previously had known by the Durham political leadership. In short, it's a preview of the type of document likely to emerge in any civil-suit discovery--one more reason the city has no choice but to settle.
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No apology necessary
BY ORIN STARN
I happen to think that Duke is fortunate to have Richard Brodhead as its president.
This smart, skilled, and gracious man must surely sometimes wonder just why he chose to leave New Haven for the dismal job of managing the Duke lacrosse mess.
But there was no need for Brodhead to apologize in remarks last Saturday at Duke Law School. From his earliest public statement, the Duke president insisted on the presumption of player innocence. He also charged committees to look into the worrying questions about the lacrosse team and campus culture raised by the Buchanan Street party with its strippers, reported use of racial slurs, and pattern of drunkenness-related police citations for too many players.
This was the right approach.
It's true enough that the Duke lacrosse case brought out the worst in many people. The lacrosse party was shameful in the first place. We wouldn't be wasting so much time and energy if the lacrosse players had shown some semblance of good judgment. Too many people, including a few faculty, indeed allowed preconceptions to cloud judgment and assumed guilt. Bloggers and our new lacrosse book authors have stirred up still more trouble with their myopic, mean-spirited, caricatured story line of the heroic lacrosse "boys" and their defenders confronting the grim legions of pinko Stalinist professors backed by cowardly university administrators.
Then there's Bill White, the self-described "Commander" of the American National Socialist Workers Party, a neo-Nazi splinter group. White left a recent n-word message on the answering machine of a black Duke professor hoping he'd "end up swinging from a tree."
And let's not even mention the name of Mike Nifong.
The point is that there's plenty of blame to go around. If Brodhead apologized of his own free will (and wasn't strong-armed by the Board of Trustees or other pressures), then so be it. We all must answer to ourselves. But the effect of the apology is another matter. By speaking only of his own supposed mistakes together with a swipe at "ill-judged and divisive" faculty comments, he left unchallenged the inaccurate, sanctimonious, pseudo-objective blog-driven framing of the lacrosse case that by force of repetition seems to have metamorphosed into the truth of what actually happened.
Are the blogs and the books really so bad?
As a bit player, I can offer my own experience. I stopped reading the blogs many months ago, but I know they label me as "an anti-lacrosse extremist" among kinder terms. This characterization, repeated in new lacrosse tomes, conveniently ignores that I wrote in three separate op-eds about my lack of confidence in Nifong's case, and in one also said that I'd signed the petition demanding his recall. I discovered after the case broke that one wrongfully accused student, Reade Seligmann, had been in one of my classes. I wrote him early on to express my concerns about the allegations and offer support.
But a balanced account does not serve those who want to use what happened to make the woefully simplistic old case that the evil minions of political correctness and sinister tenured radicals have taken over America's universities. I use my own case to illustrate, but the caricatures of other Duke faculty and astonishing volume of bile to which they have been subjected are far worse.
The accused lacrosse players got a raw deal from the justice system. I don't begrudge them the rumored multimillion settlement they've each received from Duke (the $30 million reportedly demanded from Durham seems, to say the least, a bit more of a stretch).
That doesn't mean that Brodhead owed them an apology.
He may have the least reason to do so of anyone.
Orin Starn is professor of Cultural Anthropology at Duke.
http://www.heraldsun.com/opinion/columnists/guests/68-886061.cfm
Can you say PERJURY? I believe it is a Federal offense to commit perjury, especially if you are a representative of the state. I would bet my house that Judge Smith also was in on these meetings. Those "Good Ole Boys" are going down big time. Durham offer 60 million and consider yourself getting off easy.
Wow -- finally something intelligent on this blog!
Wow, Orin has Agger issues.
It seems he is as one sided in looking at the Duke problems as Broadhead was in meteing out proper discipline to his "staff"
Ah, Orin Starn - one more reason for my wife to be glad she ditched anthropology before getting in too deep.
Meanwhile, how did the Gottlieb piece make it into the otherwise-malevolent Herald-Sun? Is there a story behind the story here?
I wasn't aware that Mr. Brodhead "managed" anything.
ORIN
You are just like a french aristocrat.
ORIN
Hostile workplace harassment on the campus of Duke is a crime.
In my view, there is no apology that can atone for the harm caused to the members of the Duke University men's lacrosse team and their families by the criminals at Duke University and the City of Durham, North Carolina.
It is your job to join together with the President to be certain that there is no dismal job of managing the Duke lacrosse mess.
You don't have to manage what you prevent, Orin.
::
GP
Stran needs his own piece too.
wonder if he still thinks the 30 MM is too much based on the leak of the timeline info this morning??
30 MM is a bargain, take the deal, Durm.
who leaked this?? probably not the obvious choice that first pops to mind.
So...
Meeting with the FA not documented and given to the defense.
Meeting with Mayor, expedite this case (i.e. charge someone), before we have trouble in the streets..
Rigged Lineup two days later.
Three innocent people indicted for a non-existing crime.
Durham is so screwed.
I, too, wonder why Brodhead left New Haven with all the perks of living on campus. Maybe he was tired of living in a oasis of relative safety, compared the the jungle that is around Yale. There is hardly a day when I don't read about shootings, muggings, drug trafficking. even murder on the streets of New Haven.
Living in Charlotte, NC for only two years I had the false impression that Durham was different. It is not.
If Durham doesn't take the $30,000,000 settlement while they still can they're a bunch of morons.
Which of course means they won't.
poor, poor, Herr Doktor Professor Starn -- for the first time in his career his views are actually being aired in the clear light of day and found to be lacking!!
Like Candide touring the devastation wrought by the earthquake in Portugal spouting the mantra "the best of all possible worlds", the PC crowd never gives up the hope that moral equivalency, closet Marxism, reverse racism, pseudo-academics + overly politicized deconstruction theory(Marx and Balzac?) will avoid scrutiny and much deserved derision. The course, "Hooking up at Duke" says it all: the emperor wears no clothes.
It's precisely because Starn and Brodhead can't differentiate between the moral opprobrium of hiring an addled stripper and a trumped up multiple-term gangrape charge that they deserve to be tossed out.
Prof. Starn's post is interesting. It is a reminder that everyone involved in the case is human and has perspectives, feelings and values. Someday this blog - including Prof. Starn's post - may be considered an artifact of the culture that existed in Durham and in much of the media. I wonder what cultural anthropologists of the future will conclude based on this blog and the lacrosse books and all the other cultural evidence this case has generated and which will presumably be preserved.I also wonder whether Prof. Starn's post offers any insight into how a present-day cultural anthropologist goes about his craft. What views and values does Prof. Starn bring to the academic discipline of cultural anthropolgy? Of course none of this has anything to do with lawsuit against Durham. Or does it?
That "wonderful" mayor, Bill Bell!
You do not want the Whichard Committee to be thorough, do you dork-face?
"I could see the elements coming together, with all the persons involved," he said. "That's why I felt it was important to get some resolution relative to the investigation. But I didn't ask them to forget about thoroughness in doing it."
Oh yes you did Mr. Bell. You might be able to fool KC and some others who do not live in the Triangle and do not know how your joint over there is run, but you wanted this Hoax boxed and wrapped quickly and you made that clear to the DPD.
You wanted to get the lacrosse players arrested, indicted, and jailed quickly because you know very well the kinds of people there are in your town.
You and other "leaders" make that town a cesspool of dependence.
You knew "racial unrest" was just waiting to happen.
Since so few people there have anything better to do.....milling about in the streets and screaming about the latest trumped-up "grievance" is what excites them.
Indeed, you know your constituency.
You and Jackie Brown are made for each other. That goofy effort--"Recall Nifong/Vote Cheek"--someone who didn't want the job is yet another example of the idiocy that prevails there.
Tell the truth, Mayor Bell....even though you are up for re-election!
"I also wonder whether Prof. Starn's post offers any insight into how a present-day cultural anthropologist goes about his craft. What views and values does Prof. Starn bring to the academic discipline of cultural anthropology?"
If Starn is representative, what value to academia or society does the "academic discipline" of cultural anthropology have?
Bill Bell does not want to lose his Jaguar or his personalized tag which reads "BILLBELL". I could think of other, more appropriate choices for the tag, but will not list them here. He will cling to power like Nifong clung to his dream of an enhanced pension.
We are in a jam here, as Bell will be reelected, and the fraud will go on. I think the only answer is to move, once the housing market picks up a bit.
Re: Orin Starn
No one knows how another President of Duke might have handled this case. From this point of view, everybody can take all the pot shots they want to the key players. I am glad that you made some attempt to do the right thing, as you saw it, during the unfolding of events.
I do not agree with you that Duke is fortunate to have Brodhead as President at the present time. However the facts shake down from an historical perspective, he has lost the respect and support of a significant percentage of his constituency and without that his influence to lead is minimized. If he truly cared about Duke's future he would voluntarily resign and give the university a chance to start over.
As to the venom sometimes spewed on this blogsite, and others, I can agree that it has sometimes gotten out of hand.
However, I think that without the bloggers this case would most likely never seen the light of day and three innocent young men would have been imprisoned for a crime they did not commit. ( A lapse in good judgment, which they confess to, is not currently a crime.)
Furthermore, I think that the voices of the bloggers became more and more intense and loud because it seemed that insanity was ruling the day. The house was burning, and nobody was even sounding an alarm.
The UPI book, in my opinion, is remarkably restrained. In page after page, the facts and timelines are reported. Just reported. The weight of the evidence of horrid complicity and even ?? conspiracy to deny civil rights to the LAX players is impossible to ignore.
Perhaps the "venom" spewed occasionally on the blogs is actually just piercing frustration at the idiocy of all of the spin and the coverups.
History has a way of removing the filters.
Meanwhile, thanks for the good you did, and the good you attempted to do. Don't worry too much about being misunderstood, or even being wrong occasionally. You're not the first person to experience those feelings.
KC:
Re: Orin Starn
"But there was no need for Brodhead to apologize"
Another clueless idiot from academia. There are so many of them.
Ken
Dallas
The Lady Debrah said:
"Tell the truth, Mayor Bell"
Hoo, hoo. What a concept. One little revelation here on a Wednesday and suddenly that drab little man becomes so much more interesting. The little mouse may turn out to be a big rat.
And, isn't Durham going to keep providing this kind of entertainment for months or even years?
Not a lawyer, of course, but I'm pretty sure civil settlement doesn't ameliorate criminal liability at all. Wouldn't it be cool if Duke's FERPA violations came popping back to the surface some day. Perhaps a Wednesday or a Tuesday - oh heck, any day will do.
And, meanwhile, Durham will keep on giving these morsels for our delectation. That's our compensation for having to learn of these things in another place - not here.
Anonymous 10/3/07 11:45 AM said...
"We are in a jam here, as Bell will be reelected, and the fraud will go on."
The attempted fraud will go on. But do you think it will continue to be successful against the onslaught of Sullivan and Scheck?
"I think the only answer is to move, once the housing market picks up a bit."
I say don't wait. S&S can't remove the settlement offer that's already on the table, but if Durham is dumb enough to pass it up (which they probably are) this new information is gonna drive the price (and subsequent tax burden) way up on the next settlement offer.
Plus there's 43 more lacrosse players who haven't filed suit yet, and Elmostafa ...
Get out while you can.
HBO will PC up the book. Can we have a post on that?
You know, it's really a shame to give a little weasel like Starn so much print and attention here.
Except for his worthless and bile-filled diatribe in the H-S, he would be forgotten.
And that's what he knows.
The N&O would not touch him on this issue. He'll have to do another "ebony and ivory" column about Tiger Woods to send to them.
LOL!!!
Starns is such a fool.
Yeah, Billy in his pimp-mobile is a sight to behold around Durham. He gots him a JAG-U-AR. He hads him a bank, too, buts the federal rugoolators done closed it up for dangerous and unethical business practices. Cesspool is too kind.
There are no coincidences with this case anymore. Every single step is orchestrated by the attorneys and played out bit by bit. It is no coincidence that this timeline has surfaced now---there is no possible escape for Bell, DPD, Baker, et al. They can't settle for the 30 million, and they can't go to court. Game -Set ......
There were three names in that story that especially caught my eye:
- Chalmers (whoa! thought he'd stayed clear of this)
- Graves and Dean of Duke (wonder if the Duke settlement covered this!)
Those look like three levers to me.
TO 12:14 PM--
LIS!
I only wish KC had been familiar with a detailed history of that place--outside of what a few self-serving Durham residents told him. For his book, it wasn't absolutely necessary; however, it would have allowed him a layered nuance when describing some of those morons.
OMG, this is the story that just gets better everyday. The whole damn City is corrupt, and I suspect parts of the state. I am still appalled that North Carolina's 2 US Senators have not spoken out on this case. They are worthless. I commend AG Cooper for his review of the case, I am sure he was under HEAVY political pressure.
So, if the HS story is true (and that alone is a suspect statement), then the lack of a Federal investigation, in my mind, is simply criminal. Furthermore, even if the HS story is not true, the very fact that it is possible, also BEGS for a federal investigation.
If true, I now see why Duke was so happy to sellte as quickly as possible to limit their liability, and my bet is they are going to be more than willing to settle now with the remaining LAX players as quick as they can. After that, I can only hope a criminal investigation includes the good 'ole boys at Duke seemingly willing to sacrifice their lambs for their own greater agenda.
Durham would be STUPID not to settle now, and then pray that a Federal investigation does not occur. Prison time for those who throw innocent people to the wolves is so needed !!!!
BDay
If Anucha Browne Sanders vs. Isiah Thomas/MSG is worth $11.6 million, in my mind what took place in Durham is 10 times worse.
Let's see where this one goes....
Sweet Thang
By the way, thanks KC for such an awesome job. We'll miss your insights and this awesome, informative blog.
Endgame for Durhamintes (that is, Durham taxpayers and homeowners) fast approaches. Were I among those unfortunate enough to reside in Durham I'd be screaming at my "leaders" to offer the Lax 3 *$40 million* and hope to God they are gracious enough to take it.
Durham (and, alas, Duke's) legal exposure just increased exponentially with the leak of the time line. Folks, we're now about ready to talk, "game, set, and match...."
Durham, you are so very, very f**ked.
Here's the pdf file for the time line that was created for mayor Bill Bell. Ten pages long.
http://www.newsobserver.com/content/media/2007/10/3/Timeline.pdf
Inre: Starn's "...Then there's Bill White, the self-described "Commander" of the American National Socialist Workers Party, a neo-Nazi splinter group. White left a recent n-word message on the answering machine of a black Duke professor hoping he'd "end up swinging from a tree."
They have become what they despise, neo-nazi, totalitarian, legions of Bill White-styled racists...
Or course the one didn't attempt to send three innocent men to prison in spite of overwhelming evidence.
It was of course the faculty and administration that supported the race-baiting bigotry.
Since these professors have so much difficulty with the truth one must consider that the telephone message might not be reliable. Based upon their action and inaction one must challenge everything thing that comes out of their noggins.
This was leaked in order to apply presure to settle the civil suit. The choice for the city "leaders" is to not settle and increase the risk of exposing themselves to serious criminal charges or settle and hope that things quiet down.
I'm predicting a settlement -- for an undisclosed amount that will be the full amount. Imagine the fear of wondering what else is now in the possesion of the tormented! It brings a broad smile to my face.
They have appointed insiders to head the DA's office, brought in someone to head DPD who was willing to allow the past to remain buried, and have tried multiple times to bring things to an end without the worst of it seeing the light of day.
Turn Nifong into a firebreak. Issue reports that attempt to cover up the worst of what was very clearly very bad and very much in full view of so many. Don't charge CGM. This isn't going away -- but there's no choice but to settle.
"Stalled case got a jump start by the photo line up..?" WTF
5:35 How does this timeline increase Duke's exposure? Did they not already Pay???
Durham - Do not pay - go to court in five or six years - make them pay those expensive lawyers forever. If you are going down - do it with your flags flying. When Duke gave them the easy payoff, they got cocky = I don't think the team or prior defendents are in it for the long haul. Besides, I would like to see if there is any new discovery.
8:31, duh, they won't pay for the expensive lawyers, my bet, the lawyers are on a commission, and given the fact that this is what they do for a living, I don't think they care how long it takes. Regardless, Durham will lose, the lawyers will get their money (and lots of it), the 3 will also get lots of deserved money from a town that is so corrupt, it was happy to frame them for a crime they did not commit.
And yes, there would be new discovery, and none of it good for Durham I suspect...
BDay
8:26:
Well, Duke has not yet settled with the remaining 43 players, and their culpability is already well outlined in multiple blogs, add now the fact that they knowingly allowed the process to proceed in the face of known innocence and knew the ine-up was a fraud, they could have further punitive damages, at least that would be my take....
BDay
This is the best entertainment on the web. It's even better that Britney Spears' child custody case; it's more fun than talking to know-it-all Type A hedge-fund traders who are getting whip-sawed by volatile markets: Durham is a gift that keeps giving.
I am looking forward to Durham's decision to decline a settlement and to face up to discovery.
I am looking forward to hearing yet more of the uncomfortable but faux-reasoned comments by the Duke academics who cannot hold their silence amid the rising heat, and cannot win an argument because they cannot cross the first threshold of admitting that their close-mindedness has retarded their intellect.
Someone said this - the story, the blog, the fun - would end in October. As a Duke alum, I half hoped it would be so, but that wasn't to be: the fun's just starting ...
Professor Starn;
Duke settled with the Lacrosse coach, spending big bucks to so do;
Duke settled with the student who alleged retaliatory grading, spending big bucks to so do,and;
Duke settled with the three indicted Lacrosse players and their families, spending big bucks to so do.
The last time I looked, Broadhead was in charge while these settlements were negotiated and finalized.
So, is it your position that he should be thanked for having done such a good job in handling the negotiations and arranging these settlements or that he did such a good job in preventing them from happening in the first place?
Mike Rayfield
Spring, TX
There are a lot of folks who have an opinion about litigation and discovery. What has not been discussed is the emotional toll that a litigation can have on an individual, especially if that litigation extends over several years.
In this case, it is the defendents and potential defendents within the Duke Lacrosse Burning controversy (DPD, Duke faculty, etc.) who will feel the brunt of that emotional turmoil, uncertainty and grief. When you are manning the ramparts of the Alamo, it's easy to beat one's chest in bravado, to say "Win or die," ... but when you're at the Alamo and your wife and daughter are huddled in a room below the mission, one's bravado subsides into remorse and introspection and submission.
Now if the attorney's advising Durham truly believe that there is significant exposure (which appears to be the case with the recent revelation of complicity by numerous officials), then the attorney's for Durham would be well advised to counsel their clients about the significant disruption to their personal lives and the livs of every Durham resident -- the moral equivalent of a proctology exam with a buzz saw will be felt by every resident and especially by the implicated -- that will consume the next couple of years. Beyond the personal equivalent of a nuclear explosion in one's gut, there is the collateral damage to the psyche of the community and the potential for 'tribal unrest' as events unfold. But, that's one of the situations contemplated by the National Guard.
My advice: Settle the matter with the 3 accused. Then immediately offer a reasonable settlement with the other 43. Come to terms. Then, clean house and move forward. Use a guillotine method, cut off the head and move on. The matter will then die a quick death for the plaintiff's will no longer have a forum, ... and I and the rest of those who have followed this travesty can focus once again on that which matters most ... truth and justice.
9:30 pm...
True, unless the Feds come in. And I for one want that to happen.
Well, they have not for nineteen months. Why would they come in now? maybe gonzales would give a private consultation?
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