Thursday, September 30, 2010

Business As Usual

Today is "Founder's Day" Convocation at Duke. The featured speaker? Ex-BOT chairman Robert Steel, whose checkered record in leading the institution through the lacrosse case ended in payments to the three falsely accused players and (to date) hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees in staving off additional lawsuits. Steel went on from Duke to lead Wachovia as the bank fell into bankruptcy.


The day also features university recognition for some faculty members--including Group of 88 members Laura Edwards and Margaret Greer. And, not to be outdone, the Group's Mark Anthony ("thugniggaintellectual") Neal, named Mark Anthony Neal, who was given the Robert B. Cox Trinity College Distinguished Teaching Award.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Updates

In the latest edition of Days of Precious’ Lives, Crystal Mangum’s estranged ex-boyfriend walked into the DA’s office and claimed that he—not the false accuser—had set clothes on fire the nigh police were summoned to their residence. His excuse for his turnabout? “I wasn't on my medication . . . I acted out on the voices I was hearing.”

Whether the ex-boyfriend was hearing voices earlier this year or is hearing voices now, this was quite an environment into which Mangum inserted her children.

Judge Marcia Morey has received a promotion, to chief district judge of Durham County. The move doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in the county’s commitment to justice, since this is the same Judge Morey who testified on Mike Nifong’s behalf in the disgraced ex-prosecutor’s criminal contempt trial. On the stand, Judge Morey offered a novel argument. To quote the N&O:

An unusual moment came before Nifong's testimony, when a judge testified that she expected lawyers to be more honest during trial than during pretrial hearings.

A prosecutor asked the judge, Marcia Morey, whether a lawyer would be following his duty to be candid if he assured a judge that a report was complete when the lawyer knew it to be incomplete.

It depended on whether the case had reached trial, Morey said.

“I do think it makes a difference,” Morey said. “Are you are at a trial stage, are you at a pretrial conference.”


Finally, former U.S. Attorney Anna Mills Wagoner has resigned her post to run for a judgeship. She should be pressed on why she refused to conduct a criminal investigation of Nifong and the DPD; and whether she would pursue a policy of cronyism on the bench.

Hat tips: M.L.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Twitter

For those interested: while DIW posts are now rare, as the case lurches forward in the civil system, all of my posts (here, at Minding the Campus, and at Cliopatria) can be accessed through my twitter feed.