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After tarring and feathering and discriminating against the Duke lacrosse members  at a critical juncture in their college careers and lives, the Duke Administration has gone to court trying to shut down the players' website, which contains the pleadings in their recently filed case against the university and a compendium of press coverage about the case. The website seems well within ethical bounds and the pleadings by the University cite no authority to suggest otherwise. As K.C Johnson observes: [E]thics rules specifically allow attorneys to make public statements countering negative publicity "not initiated by the lawyer or the lawyer's client." Given the...

Friday, February 29, 2008 Duke files motion to take down this website Duke and other defendants have filed a motion to shut down this website. Click here to read it. Posted by Bob at 2:48 PM

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - More than three dozen current and former Duke lacrosse players claim in a lawsuit they suffered emotional distress during the furor over the now-discredited rape case against three of their teammates. Attorneys planned to file a federal lawsuit Thursday in North Carolina that accuses Duke University, the City of Durham and several school and police officials of fraud, abuse, and breach of duty for supporting the prosecution of the case. Lead attorney Chuck Cooper said the private university turned its back on the players to protect the school's image. "These young men want an acknowledgment that...

Thirty-eight current and former Duke lacrosse players are filing suit against Duke University, according to an email I just got from the Robert H. Bork Jr. PR firm. The parents of the players will formally announce the suit tomorrow at 1 p.m. at the National Press Club: Charles J. Cooper, attorney for the players will explain the complaint and answer questions from the media. Only credentialed media will be allowed. Media who are unable to be present at the news conference may call (888) 882-0114 to hear audio from the event and ask questions during the Q&A. The complaint and...

Mike Nifong, the former Durham District Attorney who lost his job and law license for misconduct in the Duke lacrosse case, makes too much money to seek bankruptcy protection, a federal court administrator has concluded. Michael D. West, a bankruptcy administrator, filed a statement in the case late last week. Nifong's case, West said in his statement, should be "presumed to be an abuse" because his annual income would be higher than federal limits. The administrator's statement is a recommendation, not a ruling. But if a judge agrees, that could make it more difficult for Nifong to hide in bankruptcy...

When a mentally deluded stripper accused three Duke University lacrosse players of a brutal gang rape at a March 2006 off-campus team party during spring break, dozens of activist Duke professors were not content merely to give great credence to the rape charge, even as evidence of its probable fraudulence poured into the public record. They also treated the lacrosse players as pariahs for having hired strippers at all. So, too, did Duke President Richard Brodhead, Board Chairman Robert Steel, other campus administrators, many in the media, and others. Never mind that hiring strippers violated no law or university rule....

DURHAM -- Duke University has added a former deputy attorney general of the United States to the legal team that will defend it against a federal civil-rights lawsuit filed by three members of the 2005-06 men's lacrosse team. Court papers filed this week indicate that Washington, D.C., attorney Jamie Gorelick will assist two Greensboro litigators in representing the school. They're also the attorneys of record for the Duke University Police Department, Board of Trustees Chairman Robert Steel, school President Richard Brodhead and numerous other university officials. Gorelick was deputy attorney general during the Clinton administration, and in that capacity was...

Two years ago, the infamous Duke lacrosse case started with a group of lacrosse players hiring a pair of strippers to dance and otherwise "perform" at a rowdy house party. Fast forward two years, to Sunday night. While the rest of the world watched the Giants defeat the Patriots in the Super Bowl, about 300 students and others attended the Sex Workers Art Show, in which strippers and prostitutes were hired to dance and otherwise "perform." (snip) The event was paid for by the Student Health Center, the University Fund, the Women's Center, Sexual Assault Support Services, the Women's Studies...

The three falsely accused Duke students are now suing the city of Durham for their mishap; and rather than being a run-of-the-mill run-for-the-till, this has actually become a fight for an affirmation of our Constitution. In the 1930s in Scottsboro, nine young men were accused by two loose women of rape; the women wanted to avoid getting into trouble with the police, and thought a cry of rape would help. It was axiomatic that the men, all black, had to be guilty; a verdict of innocence would have been too upsetting to the dominant culture to contemplate. Advance the clock...

CRIME WAVE SWEEPS DURHAM Grad student killed in off-campus apartment By: Chelsea Allison Posted: 1/18/08 A Duke graduate student was found shot to death at 11:30 p.m. Friday inside his home at The Anderson Apartments, just 1.6 miles from West Campus. Abhijit Mahato, 29, was a second-year Ph.D. candidate in the Pratt School of Engineering studying computational contact mechanics. The Durham Police Department is treating the crime as a homicide, which authorities said appeared to be motivated by robbery. It was the city's second murder of the year, with 2008's first killing occurring just hours earlier on Burke Street, 1.4...

Former District Attorney Mike Nifong filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday as city leaders, police and other officials began answering one of the federal civil-rights lawsuits triggered by the Duke lacrosse case. Meanwhile, the first replies from defendants in the Evans/Finnerty/Seligmann lawsuit came Tuesday from Nifong's former investigator, Linwood Wilson, and DNA Securities Inc., the Burlington lab that tested samples gathered from the players and stripper who falsely accused them. Late Tuesday, dismissal motions were also filed on behalf of City Manager Patrick Baker, former Police Chief Steve Chalmers, Deputy Police Chief Ron Hodge, Maj. Beverly Council, Maj. Lee Russ, Capt....

RALEIGH, N.C. — The disgraced former prosecutor who led the debunked Duke lacrosse rape case has filed for bankruptcy. Mike Nifong cited more than $180 million dollars in liabilities and only $243,898 in assets of real and personal property.

Michael Nifong, the former North Carolina district attorney who unsuccessfully prosecuted Duke University lacrosse players for rape, sought bankruptcy protection from creditors including the athletes. Nifong, listed debt of $180.3 million and assets of $243,898 in documents filed today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Durham, North Carolina. The prosecutor stepped down last year. North Carolina officials stripped him of his law license for unethical conduct in the 2006 investigation of the allegations against the players. The three former players who had rape charges against them dropped sued Nifong in federal court in Durham in October. Collin Finnerty, David F. Evans...

I recently was looking for an old quote and ended up assembling a list of FreeRepublic threads as the Duke lacrosse case broke. We had the whole thing nailed pretty quickly while the MSM floundered in their biases and preconceptions. Let's hear it for the decline of the dino media and hats off to all you Freepers.

The Duke lacrosse case represents an enduring failure of the American mainstream media. Not only did the New York Times, CNN, USA Today, and other outlets neglect their duty to provide balanced and factual coverage of the case. Worse, they became the public relations arm of a sleazy prosecutor named Michael Nifong. As so often happens in rape cases, the media featured lurid accusations made by an anonymous victim, all the while omitting the word "alleged" and failing to offer the defendant the opportunity to present his side of the event. In the Duke case, it was the Raleigh News...

By Tamara Gibbs DURHAM -- In a filing Tuesday in Federal Court, unindicted Duke Lacrosse players are suing Duke University, the City of Durham, Duke University professors, Mike Nifong and the DNA lab involved in the case. The suit also names doctors and nurses who treated the alleged victim the night she claimed she'd been raped at a party. The players are also suing City Manager Patrick Baker and former Durham Police Chief Stephen Chalmers. As part of the investigation, the unindicted players had to give up DNA samples and were named in the school paper. In the 404-page lawsuit,...

Baker added to Duke lacrosse suit By Anne Blythe, Staff Writer The lawyers representing the three exonerated lacrosse players amended the civil suit in federal court today to include City Manager Patrick Baker as one of the officials they are suing. Baker announced today that he would be stepping aside at the end of the year as city manager to become city attorney, a job that comes with a higher salary but less decision-making power. As Baker met with reporters to discuss his plans to end a tumultuous three years as the city's manager, the lawyers for the exonerated lacrosse...

Since its inception in 1870, the U.S. Department of Justice has had among its chief duties "to seek just punishment for those guilty of unlawful behavior" and "to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans." Within that context, it is very difficult to accept the Justice Department's Dec. 3 decision not to investigate modern America's highest-profile case of prosecutorial misconduct, also known as former Durham district attorney Mike Nifong's handling of the lacrosse case. The justification for such an inquiry was undeniable: As Jim Cooney, the leader of Reade Seligmann's defense team, explained in an October 2007...

Durham — WRAL obtained a search warrant Sunday on the Durham Police Department's investigation into sexual misconduct involving prostitutes. In it, a woman claims she had sex to stay out of jail. The warrant states the 33-year-old woman is known as a prostitute and she claims she had "numerous sexual encounters with Durham police officers" while they were on duty. The warrant mentions two officers, but does not name them. The woman claims she and the first officer arranged to meet in Durham's Sherwood Park on Oct. 17. The warrant states "she then performed oral sex on the first officer."...

"Attorney General Mukasey and the Invisible People" By Randolph Parrish This is the story of some little people. It's the story of Elmo the cab driver, an immigrant from Somalia who sought a new life in America. Elmo knows what police abuse is like; at home, being arrested means terror; your guilt or innocence doesn't matter. This is the story of Sgt. Shelton, a cop who did an honest job. Most places, you do an honest job, you get rewarded. Sgt. Shelton got investigated. This is the story of half-Jewish white kid whose father was raised by a black family....

RALEIGH (AP) — The U.S. Department of Justice will not investigate former Duke lacrosse prosecutor Mike Nifong for his handling of the case, a spokesman for the agency said Wednesday. That decision also jeopardizes a possible investigation at the state level, according to a spokeswoman for Attorney General Roy Cooper, who said prosecutors in North Carolina can't indict someone on charges of lying to investigators. The DOJ carefully considered the case but decided that it was an issue better resolved inside the state, said spokesman Peter Carr in a statement. "We believe the State of North Carolina has the primary...

Burlington — The head of a private laboratory where DNA evidence in the Duke lacrosse case was tested no longer works there. The move comes less than a month after the former defendants filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Dr. Brian Meehan, former District Attorney Mike Nifong and several others involved in the investigation. Civil attorneys allege they were part of a "DNA conspiracy" and purposely withheld potentially exculpatory evidence that could have been used to clear their clients of the criminal charges against them. Neither Meehan nor his attorney would talk Monday about why he was replaced. DNA...

Durham — Several Durham police officers have been placed on leave pending a major internal investigation, and WRAL has learned the probe might center around sexual misconduct. Police Chief Jose Lopez said Thursday that the allegations surfaced shortly after he took over the department in September. He said less than 10 officers, ranging from rookies to veterans, were involved, but did not reveal any other details surrounding the accusations. When asked by WRAL's Julia Lewis whether police officers are under investigation for having sex with prostitutes, Lopez replied, "At this point and time, we are conducting and investigation into some...

The state wants a joint criminal investigation into the prosecution of players, a lawyer says The state attorney general has asked federal prosecutors to help conduct a criminal probe into former Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong and other government officials involved with the Duke lacrosse case, according to a lawyer representing one of the three exonerated players. Charlotte lawyer Jim Cooney outlined the request in a three-page letter sent to three high-ranking U.S. Justice Department administrators. The letter was copied to Jim Coman, a special prosecutor for the state who led the criminal investigation that led to the exoneration of...

Feminist 'Justice' at Duke by Stephen Baskerville (more by this author) Posted 10/18/2007 ET The falsely-accused Duke University lacrosse players are suing the city of Durham and prosecutor Michael Nifong for malicious prosecution, claiming “one of the most chilling episodes of premeditated police, prosecutorial, and scientific misconduct in modern American history.” In fact, their ordeal was nothing out of the ordinary. Few Americans realize how extensively our criminal justice system has been corrupted by leftist ideology. It has now reached the point where the criminals are prosecuting law-abiding citizens. Conservatives who rightly decry judicial activism in constitutional law have trouble...

The Duke lacrosse case was a perfect example of the insanity of radical theories of gender and race which, among other ultra politically correct ideas, have permeated and destroyed our universities.... Broadhead – (noun) (‘brȯd-hed) 1: a: An authority figure who is easily intimidated, especially a high ranking university administrator. b: Politically correct chump who uses authority to disparage innocent students to score cheap popularity points with media and radical professors. “The Provost said what about me? What a Broadhead.” 2: a: Coward. b: person lacking in testicular fortitude. “Just do it you Broadhead!” Broadheaded – (transitive verb): to lose...

Raleigh — The North Carolina Attorney General's Office on Thursday rejected a request by former Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong to represent him in a federal lawsuit filed by three former Duke University lacrosse players. In a letter sent to Nifong Thursday, Chief Deputy Attorney General Grayson Kelley wrote that state law allows the Attorney General's Office to deny legal representation to state officials being sued for actions outside the scope of their official duties or actions that involved fraud, corruption or malice. Calls to Nifong were not returned, and his attorney, James Craven, had no comment. Last week,...

Do you agree with former men's lacrosse coach Mike Pressler's decision to sue the University? Yes No

Raleigh — Former Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong has asked that the North Carolina Attorney General's Office represent him in a federal lawsuit filed by the three former Duke University lacrosse players he prosecuted last year. "Because I was a constitutional officer of the State of North Carolina at the time that the subject matter of the complaint arose … and because the complaint arises out of the exercise of the duties of that office, I am hereby requesting that you make any arrangements to secure my representation in this matter," Nifong wrote in a letter, dated Oct. 8,...

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. --Former Duke University men's lacrosse coach Mike Pressler, who resigned under the pressure of allegations that three of his players raped a stripper, has filed a lawsuit against the private Durham university, school officials said Friday. ~ Snip ~ The Herald-Sun of Durham reported Friday night on its Web site that Pressler's lawsuit was filed in state court, alleging the university broke the terms of the confidential settlement when university senior vice president John Burness made disparaging comments about the former coach. The suit said one of the comments was made April 9 in Newsday, when Burness...

DURHAM, N.C. -- The Durham City Council will recognize seven athletic teams from Duke University that captured championships or reached the Final Four in 2006-2007. The ceremony will be a part of the council's Monday, October 15 meeting. The seven teams include field hockey, men's soccer, volleyball, women's basketball, women's golf, and men's and women's lacrosse. ... The 2007 men's lacrosse team secured the ACC regular season and tournament championships. The tournament title was the fourth in the program's history. The Blue Devils won 17 games, which tied the NCAA record for victories in a season, and advanced to the...

October 11, 2007 Some of the most depressing e-mails received over the past year and a half have been those that asked why I was worrying myself about three rich white guys at Duke University. Neither those three students accused of rape nor the District Attorney who accused them are the ultimate issue. If all District Attorneys in this country were like Michael Nifong, the United States of America would become the world's largest banana republic. Such levels of corruption in the law itself would make the American standard of living impossible. A steady diet of the racial polarization that...

After Whoopi Goldberg called on Rev. Al Sharpton to apologize to the Duke lacrosse players, Sharpton responded by saying no apology would be required since he had never taken a position on the Duke rape case and had turned down invitations to travel there.

After Al Sharpton demanded that Isiah Thomas apologize to the woman who beat him in court, Whoopie takes Big Al on regarding the Duke rape fiasco...

Lacrosse Players File Lawsuit Against City of Durham Duke Lacrosse Legal Posted: 39 minutes ago Updated: 5 minutes ago Durham — Three former Duke lacrosse players falsely accused of rape have filed a federal civil lawsuit against several defendants, including former District Attorney Mike Nifong and the city of Durham. The 155-page lawsuit does not mention a specific amount of damages, but does ask for numerous reforms to the way the Durham Police Department handles criminal investigations. They include changes to a photo lineup procedure that helped secure indictments against David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann and the appointment...

Duke lacrosse players sue Nifong, city By AARON BEARD, Associated Press Writer 1 minute ago Three former Duke lacrosse players falsely accused of rape filed a federal lawsuit Friday against disgraced prosecutor Mike Nifong, the city of Durham and the police detectives who handled the investigation. The lawsuit calls the criminal case against Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and Dave Evans was "one of the most chilling episodes of premeditated police, prosecutorial and scientific misconduct in modern American history." The lawsuit seeks unspecified punitive and compensatory damages, attorneys fees and numerous reforms to the way the Durham Police Department handles criminal...

DURHAM -- A police document detailing new information about the Duke lacrosse case investigation reveals that investigators talked with the accuser more than they disclosed previously, and that Mayor Bill Bell and other high-ranking city officials convened two days before a stalled case got a jump start with a photo lineup that violated policy. Bell urged police to expedite a resolution to the case partly because he worried that racial unrest could erupt, he acknowledged Tuesday. That fear was hidden from his public statements at the height of the Duke lacrosse case when he expressed confidence in Durham's racial unity...

Tuesday, October 2, 2007 On page 28 of last Sunday's New York Times, right opposite the page where the obituaries were, at the very bottom was a news item almost exactly the size of a 3-by-5 card. It was a fraction of an Associated Press dispatch about Richard Brodhead, president of Duke University, apologizing for "not having better supported" the Duke lacrosse players last year when they were accused of rape. When this story first broke last year, it was big news not only on the front page of the New York Times but on the editorial page as well....

DURHAM, N.C. — Duke University President Richard Brodhead apologized Saturday for not better supporting the men's lacrosse players falsely accused in last year's highly publicized rape scandal. "Given the complexities of this case, getting the communication right would never have been easy," Brodhead said. "But the fact is that we did not get it right, causing the families to feel abandoned when they were most in need of support. This was a mistake. I take responsibility for it and I apologize for it."

'Majority' of the Players Have Hired a Lawyer and May Sue Duke A group of current and former Duke University lacrosse players and their families may sue the school over its treatment of the team in the aftermath of the Duke rape scandal, some of the families and their lawyer told ABC News. Charles Cooper, a prominent Washington, D.C., attorney, confirmed that "a large majority" of the players and their families have hired him to explore the possibility of suing the university. Cooper would not comment on the basis of any potential lawsuit or whether or when one might be...

DURHAM--Disbarred District Attorney Mike Nifong's troubles may be far from over. And that may be the case for several individuals that were closely involved in the Duke Lacrosse case, according to Eyewitness News sources. While Attorney General Roy Cooper is considering a request to investigate public officials that handled the case, ABC 11 Reporter Tamara Gibbs has learned federal investigators are collecting testimony and other court documents from Mike Nifong's ethics trial and his recent contempt hearing. Sources say the U.S. Attorney's Office Middle District of North Carolina is considering whether to investigate the case. Investigators are trying to determine...

The DA lied. Their school denounced them. And the media had a field day. The untold story behind a shocking rush to judgment. Accused At about 9 p.m. on March 16, 2006, Dave Evans was napping in his room at his rental house on 610 North Buchanan in Durham, North Carolina, when “I woke up to thundering knocks on my door like it was going to be broken down.” The Duke University senior, one of four co-captains of the school’s highly ranked lacrosse team, had just finished a grueling practice. Dave and co-captain Matt Zash, who also lived in the...

DURHAM - A law signed by Gov. Mike Easley last month appears to make David Saacks ineligible as Durham County's district attorney. But the governor's office says otherwise. Saacks, a Wake County resident, was sworn in last week as the top prosecutor in a county where he is ineligible to vote. At the time, a spokesman in the governor's office said Saacks' Wake County residency did not render him ineligible for appointment to the Durham office. But a bill that Easley signed into law on Aug. 19 says nobody can be appointed to fill a vacancy in any state or...

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) - Former Durham County prosecutor Mike Nifong walked out of jail Saturday morning after completing a 24-hour contempt sentence imposed by a judge for lying to the court about critical DNA evidence in the Duke lacrosse rape case. Nifong left the jail shortly after 9 a.m., where he was greeted with cheers and applause by a small crowd of supporters in the lobby. They surrounded the disgraced and disbarred prosecutor as he moved through a thick crowd of reporters to a waiting car. Nifong thanked the jail's staff "for the professionalism with which I was treated and...

Attorneys for the three players falsely accused in the Duke University lacrosse rape case are seeking a settlement of about $30 million from the city of Durham and several changes to the state's legal process, a person close to the case said early Friday. If the terms aren't met, the players' attorneys will file a civil rights lawsuit against the city early next month, said the person, who requested anonymity because not all of the details of the proposed settlement had been worked out. During a discussion Wednesday with Durham officials, players' attorneys Brendan Sullivan and Barry Scheck, stressed that...

One night in jail: So concludes the Duke lacrosse rape case -- rape fraud, as it turned out. The legacy of this incident should include hard thinking about the deep pathologies underlying the media sensationalism and the perversion of academic ideals that this fraud inspired.

RALEIGH, N.C. — Attorneys for the three players falsely accused in the Duke University lacrosse rape case are seeking a settlement of about $30 million and several changes to the state's legal process, a person close to the case said early Friday. If the terms aren't met, the players' attorneys will file a civil rights lawsuit against the city of Durham early next month, said the source, who requested anonymity because not all of the details of the proposed settlement had been worked out. During a discussion Wednesday with Durham officials, players' attorneys Brendan Sullivan and Barry Scheck, stressed that...

Privileged, rowdy white jocks at an elite, Southern college, a poor, young black stripper, and an alleged rape: It was a juicy, made-for-the-media story of race, class and sex, and it was told and retold for months with a ferocious, moralistic intensity.--snip--"Until Proven Innocent" is a stunning book. It recounts the Duke lacrosse case in fascinating detail and offers, along the way, a damning portrait of the institutions--legal, educational and journalistic--that do so much to shape contemporary American culture...

DURHAM - Interim District Attorney Jim Hardin has asked the State Bureau of Investigation to determine whether anyone should be prosecuted as a result of the Duke lacrosse case. The request came during the past several days, but no decision had been made late Wednesday about whether to proceed. "We're reviewing the request at this point," said Noelle Talley, a spokeswoman for the state Attorney General's Office. Hardin, appointed by Gov. Mike Easley to fill in as Durham district attorney after Mike Nifong was forced from office, declined to comment on the matter.

DURHAM -- Durham County Interim District Attorney Jim Hardin has asked state officials to determine whether current or former government officials should face criminal prosecution over their handling of the Duke lacrosse case. The request was confirmed Wednesday by Noelle Talley, spokeswoman for state Attorney General Roy Cooper. Potential targets include anyone who acted "under the color of law enforcement," meaning former District Attorney Mike Nifong and an array of people in the Durham Police Department. Hardin's request surfaced Wednesday, as attorneys for exonerated lacrosse players David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann were meeting with Durham officials to discuss...