it’s unfortunate the Duke faculty have gotten off without any repercussions (unless I am mistaken).
I have to admit, at the time I thought they must be guilty of SOMETHING. There was “too much smoke” for there not to be fire. It never occurred to me, at least initially, that the police and the prosecuter would be so deeply involved in a frame job.
I have, and had, a strong bias against Duke as a haven for priviledge, with the Lacrosse team being the ultimate super privledged boys club with a culture of heavy partying drinking and getting away with anything and everything. Given that bias, it was easy for me to believe the accusations. Apparently many others fell into that trap. I think I learned a lot from this case, like how not to believe everything you read/see on the internet! LOL
I actually know one of the players on the team, and by chance ran into him a few years ago while visiting the Duke campus. He was in his 5th year at Duke after having his “lost” year of eligibility restored by the NCAA. Really nice young man!
^^ They were no angels, that’s for sure, but partying and drinking and goofing off wasn’t what they were accused of. Duke lacrosse is in the elite groups, the best players in the country. But just like the best orchestra musicians, the best robotics team, the best science fair winners, they worked for that status. They were enjoying their college years and it was all gone overnight.
Also caught up in the situation were the kids of the coach (they stayed in NC for a while while their father moved to RI), the employees of the team, the assistant coaches and their families. Duke was the top of the mountain, and now they were begging for jobs at small programs. Pressler, the head coach, wrote a book about it: It’s Not About the Truth: The Untold Story of the Duke Lacrosse Case and the Lives It Shattered
The lacrosse players eventually were exonerated and received substantial settlement cash, but it is shameful that the Duke President and “Group of 88” faculty got off with no negative repercussions for their part in the case.
When I first started practicing law there was another young lawyer I knew who worked for the DA. It was a job she absolutely loved. And she was working on a case against someone tried for murdering a child, exactly the kind of case you want as an assistant DA since you are working for justice of the most vulnerable. Only she began to believe that the DA had covered up exonerating evidence. She quit her job rather than have a hand in this malfeasance even though she really needed the job. She didn’t know if she could ever really explain quitting a job so soon. She was very brave. It made me realize I would never want to work for a DA.
Eventually it all came out and after he was convicted the defendant was exonerated.
Could you Imagine if a rouge DA and/or police force was ever turned against poor minority children.
(Sarcasm intended)
Can you imagine if a DA’s office had video of a police officer shooting a suspect 8 times in the back and not indicting the police officer or doing anything until the video came out?
(Shocked. Just shocked!!)
There are lots of Nifong’s out there.
A lot more than we’d like to think. Hey, look, believe me I used to think the justice system was blind and fair but let’s be honest if you are wealthy and powerful you get a fine and a slap on the wrist if you are middle class or especially lower class economically you get tossed in jail and any questions can be asked later. It is really difficult not to see that argument at this point.
I do think that most police officers are well trained and honest but it isn’t as high a percentage as I would have told you before. I don’t have any reason to distrust the cops but I can only say that because I am white/hispanic (but look white enough). It isn’t a big deal to me personally but it is a big deal to me as an advocate suddenly. Wrong is wrong. More people have to start asking more questions.
Anyway, ESPN has had numerous excellent documentaries. The one of Marcus Dupree, a running back in case you don’t know, brought me to tears. The ESPN docs are TV at it’s best.
I’ll add that lawyers are not very well thought of by most people in this country and with good reason but the defense attorneys in the Duke case are heroes in every sense of the word.
It isn’t just the DA or police.
http://www.denverpost.com/ci_20300073/mistaken-allegations-child-abuse-lead-murder-suicide-before
@dadoftwingirls, what an awful story.