Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Nifong Gets His Schlong in a Sling

"Unconscionable prosecutorial misconduct" -- that's what one prosecutor called Mike Nifong's handling of the Duke lacrosse case. Mr. Nifong is this close to being disbarred.

Don't get me wrong -- I think the lacrosse team deserved to forfeit their season. They engaged in yet another instance of underage drinking, exacerbated by the idiocy of hiring strippers, followed by insulting them with racial slurs. File the team's behavior under conduct unbecoming to the university. Putting the reputation of your school in harm's way with a public display of stupidity, no matter how trumped up the charges turn out to be is reason enough to drop the hammer on the season.

Unfortunately, the code of conduct for scholarship athletes is often ignored on many campuses, particularly when the team ranks tops in the country. It's time to revoke the get out of jail free cards for badass students who enjoy an all expenses paid college education just because they're more coordinated. So I have no problem with that part of the deal.

The accused lacrosse players became the poster children for every young woman of any race who has ever been sexually assaulted by college athletes. Even more so in Durham, because this was also a white on black sex crime that took place in the South, where repressed rage simmers just below the surface, a legacy from the unprosecuted racial abuses of the past.

The irony is not that the Duke boys were innocent in this case, but that there are hundreds, if not thousands of cases where real rapes have occurred and nothing was ever done.


However, arresting three members of the team who are white for raping a black woman -- with no DNA evidence to back it up is questionable. Especially when one of the players can prove he wasn't at the scene of the crime when it supposedly happened.

Withholding the discovery that the black accuser's vagina contained semen from several [5 in one report; 9 in another] other men who weren't at the party is more than a little problematic.

Not interviewing the alleged rape victim for months and months afterward, then finding out she's changed her story is pretty much the icing on this piece of poop.

Mike Nifong was loving the media spotlight at the outset of this case. But it was the glare of media scrutiny that revealed his incompetence. A blogger named KC Johnson kept that fire stoked. Now it's payback time.

During a television interview a couple of months ago with the parents of the boys who were falsely accused and still faced charges, one mom assured Nifong that they had every intention of becoming his worst nightmare -- for the rest of his life. She was a mama bear protecting her cub.

That's the one really good thing about having the benefits of a good education and plenty of money to go with it. That way, when someone tries to f**k with you, you can turn around and f**k them back. Tenfold.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

As soon as I saw the Schlong in a Sling heading, I knew it was going to be good! I agree with your sentiments wholeheartedly. Nifong is a media-hungry shmuck (did I spell it right?) worthy of being disbarred,  and those athletes - although probably not guilty of rape - are nevertheless not quite as pure and innocent as we are led to believe..........  Jon

Anonymous said...

This case needs to become a case-study, for all future law school classes. A classic example of what can happen when one lets the quest for celebrity cloud professional judgement. Think before you leap, I guess, would be a good moral for this story.

Anonymous said...

Where else do you keep your schlong other than a sling (aka "banana hammock")?

Sure, there are issues of the effects of false accusation and costs of prosecution.  You know what is sad about this whole thing?  It has caused a backlash that will have immeasurable consequences.

Any woman raped or gang raped at a party (let's not pretend that GHB doesn't exist) is going to be even more reluctant to report it to authorities.  Authorities and the justice system might second guess valid prosecutions.  Far more important than the 3 accused Duke players is the hundreds, probably thousands, of women that this case will eventually impact.  THAT is why I resent what this "victim" has done.

Have a great weekend!
Chris
http://inanethoughtsandinsaneramblings.blogspot.com