It's Time for Justice: Drop the charges vs. Duke lacrosse players

The Mercury News ^ | October 16, 2006 | Jason Whitlock

[zaxxon]

The charges against the Duke lacrosse players should be dropped immediately, and the people demanding the dismissal the loudest and most forcefully should be the very people who have made a living allegedly fighting against racial injustice.

I've said this before, but it's worth saying again: Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton should be in Durham, N.C., today, promising civil disobedience until the charges are dropped and prosecutor Mike Nifong resigns.

Ed Bradley and "60 Minutes" should never be mistaken for Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court. Bradley is just a TV reporter and "60 Minutes" is just a TV show, but you couldn't help but be moved by the story they aired Sunday night about the Duke lacrosse rape allegations.

The three accused players gave their first interviews, and two of them claimed they had airtight, documented alibis. The accuser's one-night sidekick, Kim Roberts, seems to have settled on telling the truth rather than trying to spin the story for fame or money. She contradicted several of the statements the accuser gave to police.

[Sue Perkick]

Was it ever determined whether Crystal is/was an informant? I remember it being alluded to early on.

[CondorFlight]

Professor Coleman evidently has a letter in today's Herald Sun in the Opinion Section answering criticims of the 60 Minutes broadcast. I can't reach the HS sight at the moment (maybe it's shut down?) but if anyone does, can they post the highlights here?

Thanx!

[Sue Perkick]

They must be down. I'm getting the "cannot be displayed" page.

[ltc8k6]

She isn't on the ground in any photo I've seen.

The initial story has been that she fell down the steps and lay on the ground.

Why is she laying on the porch, then?

[ltc8k6]

Editorial made rape case about race, class

---

Your editorial about the recent "60 Minutes" report mischaracterizes both what the district attorney's role has been in the Duke lacrosse rape case and why some of us have criticized him. Like much of the media hype that has surrounded the case, your editorial turns the case into an ugly caricature by suggesting that the decision to prosecute the Duke students was made by a valiant prosecutor on a white horse who is defending a helpless black woman who "ranks near the bottom of society." That is what the prosecutor also suggested when he told a largely African-American audience that he personally would protect "this black girl" from the hooligans at Duke. I find that characterization of the case offensive and patronizing. Why do you say the accuser is "near the bottom of society?" She is an apparently talented student and mother who dances to support herself and her child. She is a woman, not a "black girl." Trying to make this case about race and class has done a great disservice to Durham. From the start, it should have been handled as just an alleged rape that had to be investigated and prosecuted if the evidence warranted it. As someone who has criticized Nifong's handling of the case, I have not called for him to dismiss it; rather, I have suggested only that a special prosecutor be appointed who can make the kind of disinterested decisions about the case that Nifong has shown himself incapable of making. If the case goes to trial, it should be based on the strength of the evidence against the defendants, rather than as a convenient way to shift responsibility for ending what now appears to be a highly questionable prosecution to a judge or jury.


JAMES E. COLEMAN
Durham
October 20, 2006
The writer is a law professor at Duke University who was interviewed on the “60 Minutes” broadcast. The length rule for letters was waived.

[CondorFlight]

If the case goes to trial, it should be based on the strength of the evidence against the defendants, rather than as a convenient way to shift responsibility for ending what now appears to be a highly questionable prosecution to a judge or jury.

[RecallMoran]

Has this whole thing just been a "shake down" of the University? Nifong is under direction by City management to keep the case alive? I keep trying to figure out where the money is in all this. I smell money but haven't seen it yet--but I know it's there.

If so the Brodhead apologists are perhaps correct. He may not be a weasel. He may be an idiot.

[Constitutions Grandchild]

Is James Coleman married -- I think I'm in love.

[bjc]

Coleman is exactly right and his letter pinpoints the underlying condescension of most knee-jerk liberals like those who apparently write the HS editorials.

[Neverforget01]

Thanks for that--first time I've laughted out loud about this case!

[Locomotive Breath]

Why can't he be both? And a few other uncomplimentary things as well.

I'm off to the forum at Duke in about 20 minutes. I'll report back upon my return.

Any questions anyone wants asked? Yeah, yeah, I know, a little late now.

[Neverforget01]

Thank You! You should ask them why on earth a scholar athlete would apply to Duke after seeing how the admin and faculty responded to this nightmare.

[Sue Perkick]

Good one!

[Locomotive Breath]

Good question, but this is a press thing. So they need to be about media coverage issues.

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

Couldn't he be a weasel and an idiot???

:-)

Regardless of how it started, I have long believed someone or something has pushed this case to where it is today.

[CondorFlight]

"What is the responsibility of a journalist if their erroneous reporting has villified an innocent, or placed their life in jeopardy--are they obligated to try and correct their error?"

[Locomotive Breath]

Bingo! You read my mind.

[Constitutions Grandchild]

Happy to oblige, Ma'am. The first laugh I had in over three years came from Georgia Gal when she sent me the "Cabin Scene" from the Marx Brothers' "A Night at the Opera". It is posted on our refrigerator, right next to the current football schedule (denoting it's importance in our lives). I smile every time I pass it.

[Constitutions Grandchild]

"Libel," I believe is the word you are searching for.

[ladyjane]

I have long believed someone or something has pushed this case to where it is today.

A totally corrupt city with a lot of secrets.