Infamous "Duke 88" (Professors Who Adjudged Lacross Guilty) To be Huge Civil Suit Targets

Dinner with other lawyers | MB26

[MindBender26]

A group of local lawyers all went to dinner least night.

Topic was Nifong and the damages NC will pay to the accused. There are questions of sovereign immunity, of course, and other issues but we all agreed that this was only the tip of the litigious iceberg.

In the civil litigation that is sure to follow, Nifong is one target, with few dollars, etc. The real targets will be the Duke 88. These are the professors who signed the now infamous letter adjudging the lacrosse players guilty and worse. That letter was then published as a full page ad in local newspapers and reprinted across the country..

These professors acted as individuals, with no corporate protection, insurance or shield. They acted outside their employment by Duke, etc. As such, they can be attacked and picked off, one at a time, with full and unrestricted individual liability, as targets of libel, slander and false light litigation. With no insurance, they wil even have to pay for their own lawyers.

Plaintiffs are well within statute of limitations.

Of course, as soon as one professor is served, he/she will go running to his/her lawyer. Their lawyer will play “let’s make a deal” by implicating others. Then they will sue the most hated professor, which will set the high dollar damages expectation for the rest of the cases. Others will then want to settle fast.

Even better, each of the three plaintiffs cam move separately against all 88 individually. The profs will fold like a house of cards.

Lots of fun. Big dollars.

[jude24]

Question of fact. There is sufficient evidence to survive a motion for judgment on the pleadings.

Nope. You can't rely on pleadings for summary judgment motions anyway (you're thinking of a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim).

[ANGGAPO]

Isn’t this mess what being too PC will get you? Let the trials begin.

[bvw]

Eighty-eight professors makes the point, I think. They have a special standing even individually, moreso as a group.

What is the law about false lights in NC? It is not as clearly lined as you'd suggest, I guessed. It -- the ad, the ads and statements -- was reckless, it was premature, inflammatory, and by the premature call for prejudice in the public -- a reckless disregard of the truth.

As to malice? To some readers, the malice drips from the page -- but in the courtroom, if and when, there will be plenty of prior words and publications by most if not all of the 88 weighed up on the balance plate to show a mindset of malice against "privileged white men" as a class of people. So I would think.

[jude24]

You're clearly biased against defamation lawsuits. That's okay. Just admit your bias.

My bias is for the law. I happen to know a little about it - and my colleague P-Marlowe concurred with my judgment.

[elhombrelibre]

If they pay for it, there may be some social benefit in that others in academia will realize there is a price for following their anti-American bias, recklessly slandering and harming others without facts, and behaving like the lowbrow bullies they truly are. For too long, biological adults on campus have been able to play the angry young man because they’re tenured; they’ve used their positions to encourage impressionable youth to emulate their idiotic ways, implying that they too can live a life without consequences. As this episode shows, the truth no longer matters to these pontificating poseurs as long as they can be paid to pout about America not reaching some Utopian ideal that they believe makes her unworthy of respect or admiration. Let them pay for their hate, which these Leftists have spread all over the world without regrets or forethought. For too long, we seen how them turn a blind eye to the wickedness in the world while encouraging the bile of Islamists and Left-wing loons, like Castro and Chavez.

[abclily]

Let the socialists learn about how libel gets rewarded in a capitalistic nation.

[jude24]

It -- the ad, the ads and statements -- was reckless, it was premature, inflammatory, and by the premature call for prejudice in the public -- a reckless disregard of the truth.

You're misunderstanding the meaning of the term "reckless" in the context of defamation. It means you just don't give a damn whether the words are true or not - it doesn't mean that it was irresponsible to come to an opinion that quickly.

o some readers, the malice drips from the page -- but in the courtroom, if and when, there will be plenty of prior words and publications by most if not all of the 88 weighed up on the balance plate to show a mindset of malice against "privileged white men" as a class of people. So I would think.

Malice is a term of art - it refers, in the context of a defamation lawsuit, specifically to a reckless disregard for the truth. It doesn't refer to whether or not you like the guy.

[Mamzelle]

what’s “light litigation”—??

[U S Army EOD]

I have tried to contact the college expressing my hope they will use the same zeal going after these 88 as they did their own students. Duke’s website appears to be overloaded or perhaps just shutdown.

[ulm1]

LIST OF INDIVIDUAL NAMES
IN SUPPORT OF THE “WE’RE LISTENING” CHRONICLE AD
Abe, Stan (Art, Art History, and Visual Studies)
Albers, Benjamin (University Writing Program)
Allison, Anne (Cultural Anthropology)
Aravamudan, Srinivas (English)
Baker, Houston (English and AAAS)
Baker, Lee (Cultural Anthropology)
Beckwith, Sarah (English)
Berliner, Paul (Music)
Christina Beaule (University Writing Program)
Blackmore, Connie (AAAS)
Jessica Boa (Religion & University Writing Program)
Boatwright, Mary T. (Classical Studies)
Boero, Silvia (Romance Studies)
Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo (Sociology)
Brim, Matthew (University Writing Program)
Chafe, William (History)
Ching, Leo (Asian & African Languages and Literatures)
Coles, Rom (Political Science)
Cooke, Miriam (Asian & African Languages and Literatures)
Crichlow, Michaeline (AAAS)
Curtis, Kim (Political Science)
Damasceno, Leslie (Romance Studies)
Davidson, Cathy (English)
Deutsch, Sally (History)
Dorfman, Ariel (Literature & Latin American Stds.)
Edwards, Laura (History)
Farred, Grant (Literature)
Fellini, Luciana (Romance Studies)
Fulkerson, Mary McClintock (Divinity School)
Gabara, Esther (Romance Studies)
Gavins, Raymond (History)
Greer, Meg (Romance Studies)
Glymph, Thavolia (History)
Hardt, Michael (Literature)
Harris, Joseph (University Writing Program)
Holloway, Karla (English)
Holsey, Bayo (AAAS)
Hovsepian, Mary (Sociology)
James, Sherman (Public Policy)
Kaplan, Alice (Literature)
Khalsa, Keval Kaur (Dance Program)
Khanna, Ranjana (English)
King, Ashley (Romance Studies)
Koonz, Claudia (History)
Lasch, Peter (Art, Art History, and Visual Studies & Latino/a Studies)
Lee, Dan A. (Math)
Leighten, Pat (Art, Art History, and Visual Studies)
Lentricchia, Frank (Literature)
Light, Caroline (Inst. for Crit. U.S. Stds.)
Litle, Marcy (Comparative Area Studies)
Litzinger, Ralph (Cultural Anthropology)
Longino, Michele (Romance Studies)
Lubiano, Wahneema (AAAS and Literature)
Maffitt, Kenneth(History)
Mahn, Jason (University Writing Program)
Makhulu, Anne-Maria (AAAS)
Mason, Lisa (Surgical Unit-2100)
McClain, Paula (Political Science)
Meintjes, Louise (Music)
Mignolo, Walter (Literature and Romance Studies)
Moreiras, Alberto (Romance Studies)
Neal, Mark Anthony (AAAS)
Nelson, Diane (Cultural Anthropology)
Olcott, Jolie (History)
Parades, Liliana (Romance Studies)
Payne, Charles (AAAS and History)
Pierce-Baker, Charlotte (Women’s Studies)
Pebles-Wilkins, Wilma
Petters, Arlie (Math)
Plesser, Ronen (Physics)
Radway, Jan (Literature)
Rankin, Tom (Center for Documentary Studies)
Rego, Marcia (University Writing Program)
Reisinger, Deborah S. (Romance Studies)
Rosenberg, Alex (Philosophy)
Rudy, Kathy (Women’s Studies)
Schachter, Marc (English)
Shannon, Laurie (English)
Sigal, Pete (History)
Silverblatt, Irene (Cultural Anthropology)
Somerset, Fiona (English)
Stein, Rebecca (Cultural Anthropology)
Thorne, Susan (History)
Viego, Antonio (Literature)
Vilaros, Teresa (Romance Studies)
Wald, Priscilla (English)
Wallace, Maurice (English and AAAS)
Wong, David (Philosophy)

[P-Marlowe]

Nifong was an agent of the State in all this.

He was an employee of the county. I think the link to the state is tenuous. I would go after Nifong personally and the county as respondeat superior. And it is "the people" not "the state" versus the defendant. The wrondoing in this case was limited to the county level.

It makes no sense in adding additional defendants to cloud up the issue. You want one defendant not dozens. If you bring in a dozen defendants you get a dozen closing arguments against your case.

[elhombrelibre]

A citizen has no right to slander another citizen. Courts are lenient with public officials and celebrities.

[Donald Rumsfeld Fan]

The idiot professors looked around and decided to cover their stupid behinds by hustling out a letter that harumphed that the first letter was “misinterpreted”.

That's no excuse in a civil case. They still must pay. Since their careless/ignorant letter damaged the defendants.

[roses of sharon]

LOL. Sure, I see hundreds of disbarments and fines issued every day due to the thousands of frivolous lawsuits filed!

And since this thread started with a theoretical issue, and the players have given no indication that they are even thinking about the commie profs, this is merely a frivolous discussion.

But I see any threats of lawsuits against your “88”, as a good thing, anything to make them sweat.

[patriotspride]

“On a tangentially related note, I called my Congressional rep last week, and suggested a new federal law, namely, that if you frame someone, falsely testify, or knowingly falsely prosecute someone, and you are convicted, your punishment would then be the same as the crime you framed, falsely testified, or falsely prosecuted the other person for. If enacted, the Nifongs of the future would jail time equivalent to multiple (at least three) counts of felony rape.”

This should be put on the general election ballot.

A lot of us would hit YES...............

[jude24]

He was an employee of the county. I think the link to the state is tenuous. I would go after Nifong personally and the county as respondeat superior. And it is "the people" not "the state" versus the defendant. The wrondoing in this case was limited to the county level.

I'm going off of a NY case where a man was wrongfully imprisoned in NY for 22 years after being convicted of rapes he didn't commit. (Instead, a local serial killer did.) The State of New York is the primary defendant, not the local DA's office that convicted him.

Municipalities are usually considered subdivisions of the State for this kind of lawsuit. At least they are around here.

[FormerACLUmember]

The infamous Committee of 88 and Duke University deserve to lose BIG. Some of these “professors” are STILL slandering the lacrosse lads to this very day!

I want it to be made clear to our naion’s universities that that there are enormous economic damages to allowing totalitarian campus P.C and tenuring Marxist propagandists.

This civil litigation could strike a major blow for academic freedom!

[FormerACLUmember]

The infamous Committee of 88 and Duke University deserve to lose BIG. Some of these “professors” are STILL slandering the lacrosse lads to this very day!

I want it to be made clear to our naion’s universities that that there are enormous economic damages to allowing totalitarian campus P.C and tenuring Marxist propagandists.

This civil litigation could strike a major blow for academic freedom!

[_Jim]

"Telephone number-level damages ... with area codes!"

You're going to have to change that phrase since a lot of the country is now "ten digit dialing" by default. One province in Canada has proposed going to ten digit dialing too.

So, "Telephone number-level damages!" would be sufficient.

[investigateworld]

"If you bring in a dozen defendants you get a dozen closing arguments against your case"

Thanks for insight. But is that offset by the discovery process?

I suspect there is going to be a lot of CYA memos and such which could help focus on the proper (and deeper pockets) defendants. Yes, I do love fishing expeditions.