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"Nevertheless, his recklessness has exposed Durham to potentially catastrophically costly lawsuits, and he has exposed himself to potentially severely punitive disciplinary actions in future hearings regarding his own personal ethics and legal tactics."

Thanks for this info. I wasn't sure if this was possible.

Are you certain that Durham can be open to lawsuits?

I posted this on the other active Duke thread:

There is a ***rumor*** floating around here in Chapel Hill and Durham that a global settlement is in the works. This is why the defense is making rapid fire discovery motions, to increase the pressure on Nifong.

Key points of the rumor are:

1. Accuser admits drug and alcohol abuse clouded her recollection of events (flashbacks of prior 3-man rape) in a letter made public a day or two after she enters lengthy rehab. Social services takes over her case on behalf of her kids. She faces no charges if she completes rehab.

2. Charges against indicted Duke players are dropped.

3. No charges against boyfriend or drivers or Kim.

4. Duke party-goers plead guilty to various underage drinking charges and agree to community service and fines.

5. EVERYBODY signs a mutual release from future lawsuits and agrees to super-high liquidated damages if they talk or write about the case.

ALL OF THIS IS A RUMOR I HEARD FROM SOME LAWYERS IN A COFFEE SHOP. IT IS PROBABLY WISHFUL THINKING, BUT THERE ARE A LOT OF LAWYERS INVOLVED IN THIS COMMUNITY AND I AM SURE SOMEONE IS TALKING TO FELLOW, NON-INVOLVED LAWYERS.

Please don't flame me for putting this rumor out for FReepers to discuss. I have been a FReeper for almost 8 years and I generally dislike unsubstantiated rumors floating around, but this one may be an exception.

And, after a few replies, I posted this:

Thanks to everyone for not flaming me. I have always enjoyed the global reach that FR has and how we seem to have a local reporter everywhere a news event occurs. I can't defend or refute a rumor. It is one-sided, although one thing I left out was that Duke would *probably* let the players continue at Duke and also release them to transfer, if they wished to do so. Duke would not participate in the settlement, however.

One thing that was brought up was that the players are Durham residents for three more years or less, then they are going to leave the state, if they have any sense. Everyone else is here for the long run.

As an aside, the black folks I have talked to in the past week simply want this to go away. They read the same reports as everyone else and know there is little to no case to be brought. The drug/booze rehab part is the cover they want and the more radical part of the Durham black community will spend the next 10 years holding Duke ransom for sensitivity training and contributions to bogus town/gown events.

There have been any number of successful lawsuits over the years against Federal, State, or local Governments in which a citizen or citizens have been harmed in some manner. Nifong might be personally immune from monetary damages, but the Government is not always immune when injustices are done to the citizens. Personally, I believe that Durham, and maybe even Duke University, have incurred liability because of the statements or the actions of Nifong or Brodhead, and they are now exposed to huge monetary damages because of those actions or statements.