Ann Coulter: The stripper has no clothes

Stuart Taylor Jr., the liberal but brilliant legal reporter for the National Journal, described the New York Times' coverage of the Duke lacrosse rape case as "(w)orse, perhaps, than the other recent Times embarrassments." For a newspaper that carries Maureen Dowd's column, that's saying something.

As the Times' most loyal reader, this came as welcome news. I had briefly suspected the Times was engaging in fair reporting of the alleged rape case at Duke University. Taylor's article documenting the Times' massive misrepresentations restored order and coherence to my world.

The first part of the story -- the lie part -- was angrily reported in the Times. But as the accuser's story began to unravel, the Times gave only a selective account of the facts, using its famed lie-by-omission technique.

Among the many gigantic omissions from the Times' pretend-balanced article ("Files From Duke Rape Case Give Details but No Answers") is the fact that the only remaining particulars about the case that are not completely exculpatory come from a memo by Sgt. Mark Gottlieb -- written four months after the alleged incident.

Gottlieb, the lead investigator on the alleged rape case, took no contemporaneous notes when he interviewed the accuser, but rather waited for the facts to come in -- and his case to be falling apart -- to write a memo recalling her statements during that initial investigation. The statements he recalled were surprisingly favorable to the prosecution!

The only problem with his memo, besides being preposterous on its face, is that it is contradicted by the contemporaneous notes taken by other people involved in the investigation. Indeed, the only thing Gottlieb's memo was consistent with were the facts as the prosecution was then alleging them.

Of course, it was hard to keep straight what facts the prosecution was alleging. The accuser made up so many stories about the incident that the Times was forced to offer her Jayson Blair's old position.

The Times "No Answers" article gave no indication that Gottlieb's memo was written four months after the alleged rape, but rather refers to it as the policeman's "case notes," falsely suggesting the notes were taken during the investigation and not after the frame-up.

Beginning with the strongest invented evidence from Gottlieb's "case notes," the Times reported that the nurse who examined the alleged rape victim told Gottlieb that the "blunt force trauma" seen in the examination "was consistent with the sexual assault that was alleged by the victim."

Or at least that's what Gottlieb wrote four months after talking to the nurse. It's not what the nurse wrote the night she examined the accuser. To the contrary, the only sign of physical trauma the nurse noted in her written report immediately after examining the accuser were some superficial scratches on the woman's knee and heel.

Indeed, in all 24 pages of the report prepared by doctors and nurses who examined the accuser the night of the alleged rape, there is no mention of any "blunt force trauma" or any injuries other than the scratches.

Also contradicting Gottlieb's hindsight memo were the notes taken by another policeman during their interview with the accuser -- not four months later -- saying she described her assailants as "chubby," with a "chubby face" and weighing "260-270" pounds.

That description fit none of the eventual defendants -- whom she repeatedly failed to pick out of photo lineups until Gottlieb finally gave up and presented her with a photo lineup of only Duke lacrosse players, to ensure that she couldn't guess wrong.

But according to Gottlieb's hindsight memo, the accuser described one of her rapists as "baby-faced, tall, lean" -- just like one of the actual defendants!

In repeatedly citing Gottlieb's after-the-fact memo as if it were the Rosetta stone of the case, the Times also neglected to mention Gottlieb's dark history with Duke students.

Gottlieb repeatedly jailed Duke students charged with minor infractions such as carrying an open beer or playing loud music, often throwing them in cells with violent criminals. He was not so tough on nonstudents, releasing one caught with marijuana and a concealed .45-caliber handgun.

A review of Gottlieb's record published in the Durham News & Observer showed that, in the previous year, when he patrolled an area that included both a "crime-ridden" public housing project and Duke off-campus housing, he arrested 20 Duke students and only eight nonstudents. During that same period, the three other officers in that district arrested two Duke students and 61 nonstudents.

At this point, Gottlieb's memo is the linchpin of the prosecution's case, and every single other fact in the case exonerates the defendants.

I mention all this to point out the Alice-in-Wonderland quality of the Times Jan. 15 editorial titled "Politicizing Prosecutors." The editorial had nothing to do with lunatic Southern prosecutors like Mike Nifong, Barry Krischer and Ronnie Earle threatening to put innocent people in prison for being Republican or "privileged white males."

No, the Times was upset because the law allows President Bush to fill vacant U.S. attorney slots with temporary replacements. The Times is enraged that Bush may be choosing prosecutors he likes, rather than prosecutors Sen. Dianne Feinstein likes, for these interim appointments.

If Bush were choosing the most hack, unprincipled, out-of-control Republican Party operatives for these temporary U.S. attorney positions, they could not match the partisan witch-hunts of the prosecutors and policemen the Times lies to defend.

"You have to assume that every kid with any thoughts about going to Duke was watching that and that parents took note."

I sure hope so!

I have no kids who are applying to college; they have graduated from college....my grandson will be eventually, but if he was applying soon, I would advise him against Duke. In fact, this will stay in my mind in many years to come. He will NOT be applying to Duke.

http://www.heraldsun.com/tools/printfriend...?StoryID=810195

Has Peterson crossed the line?

BY RAY GRONBERG, The Herald-Sun
January 17, 2007 11:11 pm

DURHAM -- Tuesday's City Council vote on the rezoning of Duke University's Central Campus may have put a permanent kink in the council's relationship with one of the Durham political scene's most persistent personalities.

Victoria Peterson, a local activist and perennial candidate for elective office, was the only person who spoke against the rezoning. She felt the council's wrath when she essentially argued that officials should reject the application in retaliation for the university's role in the Duke lacrosse sexual-offense case.

Peterson said rape and other crimes on and around Duke's campus are out of control, and she blamed it on Duke's students.

"Because it's Duke with their money and influence, you want to overlook a lot of the stuff they've done," she said. "They've embarrassed this community."

But Peterson's comments -- which came after activists from two neighborhoods surrounding Duke had endorsed the rezoning -- didn't sit well with the council. One member, Eugene Brown, interrupted with the word "enough," and Mayor Bill Bell asked Peterson to stick to the merits of the application.

When she finished, another councilman, Howard Clement, rebuked her.

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http://www.heraldsun.com/tools/printfriend...?StoryID=810072

Racial divisions don't define us

The Herald-Sun
January 17, 2007 6:01 pm
Someone at CNN must have thought the Duke lacrosse case would fit neatly under the label "Skin Deep: Racism in America," a series airing on the "Paula Zahn Now" show. After all, the lacrosse case is all about race, isn't it?

On Tuesday, Zahn's show was titled "The Duke Assault Case: A Question of Race." Broadcast live from West Main Street, it was supposedly an attempt to expose the deep-seated racial animosity that lurks below Durham's surface. In her introduction, Zahn said the lacrosse case "has exposed our society's hidden racial divisions." In case you missed the point, the headline on the screen during the broadcast was "Racism in America."

The premise, however, is an immense oversimplification. We should probably know by now not to expect nuance from the national media. But Zahn and others are wrong to perpetuate the stereotype that, in southern cities like Durham, the races are, just under the surface, ready to go at each other tooth and claw.

Among her guests, many of whom had nothing to do with the case, Mayor Bill Bell was a voice of reason. His comments will resonate with many Durham citizens, black and white, who feel blinded by the lacrosse spotlight.

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http://www.heraldsun.com/opinion/hsletters/

Troubling statement

In the Tacoma News Tribune (WA state), I read that a student leader at N.C. Central University told Newsweek that the players accused should be prosecuted whether the rape happened or not because, "It would be justice for things that happened in the past."

How sad and scary that a student leader should be so racist and bigoted that they should be judge and jury without all the facts being presented. If justice is only based on color, our legal system is in trouble, especially if the "student leader" at NCCU is going to become a lawyer.

Way over on this coast, it now sounds like both sides on this case made bad choices, and if that is the case, maybe everyone can learn something from it.

Danny Moulding
Tacoma, Wash.
January 18, 2007

Be ashamed

So Mike Nifong's lawyer says the district attorney stepped away from the Duke lacrosse case because, "He wants to make sure the accuser receives a fair trial." Not the accused, just the accuser. And that has been the problem with this case from the beginning. The Herald-Sun's editorials on this case makes it clear that the paper shares that sentiment.

You should be ashamed.

Richard Miller
Burlington, N.C.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/01182007/news/...andy_geller.htm

L.I. REP. TO FEDS: PROBE DUKE DA
By ANDY GELLER
January 18, 2007 -- Rep. Peter King called on the Justice Department yesterday to launch an investigation of the district attorney in the Duke lacrosse sex-offense case.

In a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, King (R-L.I.) asked that the FBI begin an investigation into whether DA Mike Nifong violated the rights of the three players accused in the controversial case.

King's district includes Garden City, home town of one of the three players, Collin Finnerty, 20.

"I am deeply disappointed by your apparent decision to defer a decision whether to investigate Mr. Nifong's prosecution of this case," King wrote.

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http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/na...ionalnews-print

Pols call for U.S. probe of Duke case

BY J. JIONI PALMER
Newsday Washington Bureau

January 18, 2007

WASHINGTON - Wading into the controversy over an alleged gang rape by members of the Duke University lacrosse team, Rep. Peter King has called on the U.S. attorney general to investigate the conduct of the North Carolina district attorney who was handling the probe.

"This case reeks of prosecutorial misconduct," said King (R-Seaford), who seeks to determine whether local law enforcement officials, including Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong, "conspired to violate rights of the three defendants."

One of the accused, Collin Finnerty, 20, is from Garden City.

King noted in his letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales that he also was writing as a son of a New York City police officer, as a "parent and grandparent, and as a former practicing attorney."

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http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dw...n1.2976bfb.html

OPINION Editorials

One Angry Man

DA in Duke case exemplifies power run amok

12:00 AM CST on Thursday, January 18, 2007

Twelve Angry Men is one of the greatest American films, and an indelible lesson in civics. Virtually the entire drama takes place in a jury room, as the dozen impassioned jurors deliberate over the fate of a young man on trial for murder. Emotion initially clouds the majority's thinking, but the cool, deliberate application of reason calms tempers and saves the defendant's life.

The 1957 film came to mind as we deliberated on the case of one angry man: Michael Nifong, the Durham County, N.C., district attorney who has been prosecuting the high-profile rape and kidnapping case against members of the Duke University lacrosse team.

In April, a stripper accused members of the team of raping her at a team party. Mr. Nifong later obtained felony indictments against three players and won re-election, in part by playing the avenger of a working-class black woman abused by rich white college boys in the South.

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http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?5...aa-ac843b6bf6ad

Nifong, Fitzgerald, and Earl: American Justice Defiled
By Christopher G. Adamo, 1/17/2007 8:37:16 PM
A pattern of abuse is spreading and escalating throughout America, at the hands of out of control public prosecutors, who are clearly pursuing their “duties” with no intention towards justice, but with personal and political agendas. As such, they undermine hope for justice to result from any situation.

Since the perpetrators of this malignancy work so closely in league with those who must hold them accountable, little has been done to restrain or control them. To date, only cursory efforts are being suggested to address the problem. Clearly, those entrusted to enforce the law must be held to the highest standards of conduct, lest by exceeding the boundaries of that law they become the worst version of the threat they are sworn to avert.

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http://www.lewrockwell.com/anderson/anderson166.html

Racial Diversity and Elite Educational Institutions: Duke’s Meltdown
by William L. Anderson

Although Michael B. Nifong is out of prosecuting the Duke non-rape, non-kidnapping, and non-sexual assault case, the monster remains in the hands of the entity that helped to make it a monster: the State of North Carolina. Thus, Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty, and David Evans are not safe until someone finally drives a stake into the heart of this thing, but that moment surely is coming, although I might add that it cannot come soon enough.

In one sense, this could have happened anywhere. False rape accusations have landed men into prison before, and college campuses tend to be ground zero of the "take back the night" culture in which all Caucasian men are considered to be rapists or about-to-become-rapists and secret members of the Ku Klux Klan. Yet, I would add that the volatile mix of people at an elite university like Duke is a much more fertile ground for a major hoax than would be a typical lower-tier state university. There is a special situation at these types of institutions that plays well to the kind of moral theater we have witnessed this past year.

To further stress this subject, I first need to point out some the social and academic dynamics of an elite university like Duke. Like many other academically elite universities, Duke’s student body is overwhelmingly white and Asian. (The dominance of Asian students is a relatively new phenomenon, as they tended to be excluded in the past, as well as non-white students.) Once upon a time, the demographics of the students did not bother the powers that be at elite institutions. Some, like Duke until 1961, did not admit blacks at all, while others admitted them, but did not have very many black applicants and even fewer black students.

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http://ny.metro.us/metro/blog/my_view/entr...rosse/6548.html

Athletes nailed to lacrosse
my view by christopher m. halleron
JAN 18

It’s often said that any press is good press, but lacrosse fans might tell you different. As it becomes more and more apparent the case involving the alleged incidents at Duke University has more holes than a mesh jersey, it seems Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong will likely be called for illegal procedure, possibly landing him in the penalty box.

The unfortunate events in North Carolina last spring resonated well beyond the house where that ill-advised team party took place. Lives were potentially ruined, a team was disgraced, a university was tarnished and an entire sport was dragged through the mud. Blogs and message boards were ablaze with blanket indictments of lacrosse and its players.

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http://www.nypost.com/seven/01182007/posto...n_podhoretz.htm

ORWELL UNIVERSITY DUKE PROFS' P.C. TRAVESTY
By JOHN PODHORETZ

January 18, 2007 -- DURHAM, N.C.
IN my college days, if some body set up a bunch of tents in a prominent location on campus, it was to protest apartheid or homelessness.

Right now, a tent city's up at Duke University - the site of the most outrageous case of railroading in recent history. Three Duke lacrosse players were falsely accused of raping a woman and charged unjustly with that and other crimes by a district attorney who suppressed evidence and committed perjury before recusing himself from the case.

This monumental injustice deserves a protest, especially since the trumped-up charges have not yet been dropped (though they soon will be).

But the Duke tent city isn't about that. The hundreds of students who've taken up residence for weeks aren't complaining about anything. They're camping out for tickets to the semi-annual Duke-Carolina basketball game. As senior Jamie Deal says, they're "pretty apathetic" about politics.

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http://www.diverseeducation.com/artman/pub...icle_6902.shtml

From Diverse Online

Current News
Duke Professors Reject Calls to Apologize to Lacrosse Players
By Christina Asquith
Jan 17, 2007, 22:25

Increasingly under attack from newspaper editorials and online bloggers, the Duke faculty members known as “The Group of 88” posted a letter online yesterday defending themselves against accusations that they had rushed to judge the three men’s lacrosse players.

In the one-page “Open Letter to the Duke Community,” professors aimed to clarify an advertisement they’d published last year in a student newspaper entitled, “What Does a Social Disaster Sound Like?” The advertisement quoted anonymous students about the prevalence of sexism and racism at Duke.

“The ad has been read as a comment on the alleged rape, the team party or the specific students accused. Worse, it has been read as rendering a judgment in the case,” the letter said. “We understand the ad instead as a call to action on important, longstanding issues on and around our campus, an attempt to channel the attention generated by the incident to addressing these.”

Wednesday’s letter was signed by 87 members of Duke’s faculty, including 90 percent of the African and African American studies department, 60 percent of the women’s studies and a third of the English department.

Professors who signed the letter said they had received vicious and threatening e-mails after the advertisement was published. Dubbed “The Group of 88,” the professors became targets for all those charging that Duke professors were left-leaning and close-minded. The professors, however, say their initial intent has been misrepresented.

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