Posted on 06/17/2007 6:25:09 AM PDT by 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.
MindBender that is awesome, this IMHO is one of the best FR posts EVER. I hope dearly that the big guns come out in defense of the LaCrosse players, and are merciless in their pursuit of every weasel who found political advantage in destroying the lives of these young men.
The left has been doing this everywhere in the world for about a century, and in small scale regional “Theaters of Operations” like those chaired by hitmen like Nifong in places as “secondary” as North Carolina. It is TIME that someone played hardball with these bastards and made them PAY in more ways than one for their thuggery. I will be following this, and meanwhile, thank you for reporting on it.As Larry the Cable Guy says, “Git ‘er DONE!!!”
bump
#5 and #6——Apparently your wife asked you twice/
your wife asked you twice/
#412-—awesome——McClain’s rejoinder to you was rhetorically exactly like that kind of defensive spin a guilty party always puts on being taken to task, like someone getting dunned over the phone for a two or three months past due payment on their credit card
, who pretends they sent the payment in. Your only mistake, as I remember it, was in admitting that you said anything “harsh”. I myself have lots of experience over the years in trying to communicate with bitter-end Liberals-—I have found that the LAST thing they ever want to do (or much more importantly feel they NEED to do) is defend their own assumptions against ANYONE who merely wants “a free and open exchange of ideas.” They are demagogues. The great George Orwell knew this, going back to the 1930s and 40s, and I hope we all can start to know it they way he did.
IMHO, that does absolutely nothing to help their case.
The Duke Community Standard (from www.duke.edu)
Duke University is a community of scholars and learners, committed to the principles of honesty, trustworthiness, fairness, and respect for others. Students share with faculty and staff the responsibility for promoting a climate of integrity. As citizens of this community, students are expected to adhere to these fundamental values at all times, in both their academic and non-academic endeavors.
The Pledge
Students affirm their commitment to uphold the values of the Duke University community by signing a pledge that states:
1. I will not lie, cheat, or steal in my academic endeavors, nor will I accept the actions of those who do.
2. I will conduct myself responsibly and honorably in all my activities as a Duke student.
The Reaffirmation
Upon completion of each academic assignment, students will be expected to reaffirm the above commitment by signing this statement: .I have adhered to the Duke Community Standard in completing this assignment. [Student Signature]
Students’ Obligation to Report Potential Cases of Academic Dishonesty
Under the Duke Community Standard, students affirm their commitment not to lie, cheat, or steal in academic endeavors, nor accept the actions of those who do.
Thus, a student who has direct knowledge of a potential case of academic dishonesty is required to:
Provide a signed written statement of the observed behavior to the appropriate faculty member and/or to the Dean of Students Office within one week of the alleged occurrence; and
Provide the name or identity of the person(s) alleged to have committed the violation(s).
The observing student is encouraged first to confront the person(s) alleged to have committed the violation(s) for at least two reasons: 1) to correct any misassumption about alleged act(s), and 2) to let the accused student(s) know that the situation is being reported so that accused student(s) might choose to self-report as well. (Accepting responsibility to the faculty member and/or the Dean of Students Office prior to the reporting of an alleged offense will be considered as a positive factor in the determination of an appropriate sanction.)
Students who knowingly do not fulfill this obligation are themselves subject to sanctions.
© 2006 Honor Council Web Committee
Too little, too late. The damage has already been done. The university should fire every one of the original letter signers for bringing shame to the university and unprofessional conduct.
I was wondering the same thing. Sure, it came out at the wrong moment and was sort of obnoxious because of the timing. But I don't see anything that directly implicates the letter as jumping the gun and condemning the boys before they were judged...
Unless the boys' lawyers can show that this letter helped stir up the pot. Sort of like yelling "fire" in a crowded theater...
I think I read somewhere that Duke settled with the ex-coach...
Is this letter the one that they wrote last year? I think the paper made it sound like the Duke 88 (now 87 - to be fair, one apologized) wrote a new one but I do not think they have.
Billybob, do you really think there a possible case can be made of this newspaper ad by the infamous Duke 88? I actually think the ad is a meandering jumble of words that really makes no sense to me...
In NC, the S/L for slander, libel, defamation, and other intentional torts is 1 year. They could claim intentional or negligent infliction of emotional distress though, as these have 3 year S/L.
When does the President and the Duke Board of Trustees get their turn in the barrel?
So you look for and expose the weakest link and use that person's testimony to get the others to settle?
What the most common and uncommon reasons attorneys have been disbarred?
It’s not a slam-dunk. But it should be pursued.
John / Billybob
Greed
Dishonesty
Stupidity
Incompetence
In appellate law you can work in your pajamas at home. All you are doing (hopefully) is trying to fix other people’s mistakes. Occassionally you have to try to fix one of your own. All you are trying to do is to make cogent arguments to people who are a lot smarter than you are.
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