H 32°, L 7° | Tomorrow: 
H 17°, L 4°Ten months later and it seems as though the Duke Lacrosse “rape” case is finally heading in the right direction, with both the defendants and the district attorney getting what they deserve. The three defendants, Collin Finnerty, Reade Seligmann and David Evans, are no longer charged with rape, and the prosecutor, Durham County District Attorney Michael Nifong, has removed himself from the case following ethics complaints. As for the accuser, she has changed her story so many times that she will never be considered a credible witness, and the DNA evidence has proven that no genetic material from any of the three students was found on or inside the accuser. To backtrack a bit, the scandal began back in March 2006, when the three young men in question attended an off-campus party held by the lacrosse team. Two strippers, one of whom came to be known as the infamous accuser in the case, performed at the party. Before long, the three students were slapped with charges of rape, sexual offense and kidnapping. The accuser claimed the men had forced her into a bathroom and assaulted her during the party. So why has the case gone on so long, given how flimsy the evidence is? Why did three young men have their lives ruined for what now seems to be an entirely unfounded, not to mention weak, case? And how did Mr. Nifong manage to stay on the case as long as he did, and why was the founding principle of our legal system — a defendant is innocent until proven guilty — so blatantly disregarded? The answers to these questions are numerous and frustrating. This cornerstone of our legal system was overtaken by the immense amount of attention paid to politics, class and race, and perhaps most worrisome, the excesses of tabloid journalism. It is naive to consider it a coincidence that Mr. Nifong was running for re-election for district attorney at the time the case cropped up and desperately needed the black vote that dominates Raleigh, N.C. It could only be expected that he would jump at the chance to defend the black “victim,” successfully attracting more attention to his own campaign and eventual re-election (he was reportedly sworn into office Jan. 2). To give a voice to a minority community — especially one that surrounds a wealthy and well-known university — is a great story. Those reporters and editors who began to question the way the case was being handled did not attack it as hard as they could have and should have, probably because they feared Mr. Nifong could not possibly be as sure of his case as he seemed unless he had something up his sleeve. But instead of being the watchdog — a prescribed duty that every journalist should hold in high regard — they let each impending suspicion slide, all in hope of an even better twist to an already “great” story. Furthermore, when the story first broke, journalists rightly saw it for what it was: an unusual storyline where the rich kids were the ones in trouble, and a lot of it. This guaranteed ratings and readership. But these very same reporters erred when they continued to report on the case in a way that made it seem as though there was no way these young men could be innocent. After all, that would have ruined the story. Story or not, the lives of the three defendants were undoubtedly ruined for the past year and for however many more months this case drags on. No, maybe their names are not as recognizable as other high-profile defendants like O.J. Simpson, but there will certainly be a big gap in their résumés they will have to explain, somehow, when it comes time to apply for jobs. Rich or not, white or not, these defendants were treated unfairly by both the legal system and the media. It is important that we remember this case in the years to come, and when another like it occurs — which it undoubtedly will — we must resist our natural instinct to go along with whichever story sounds the best. We must prevent race and class from marring the truth of a case, and hopefully, if we’re lucky, fewer lives will be ruined, and less of our time will be wasted. Emily Friedman ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in journalism and legal studies.
Opinion
Duke case exposes media’s flaws, unfair legal system
Emily Friedman
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Also by Emily Friedman:
- Tenure at paper teaches, changes (May 10, 2007)
- Straight or gay, hire either way (May 3, 2007)
- Tragedy provides opportunity to re-evaluate nation's violent culture (April 19, 2007)
- Anti-abortion methods go too far (March 29, 2007)
- 'Don't ask, don't tell' hypocritical (March 15, 2007)
24 older comments
IP hash: 50e8fb78
It is unfortunate that the writer of this article does not know that mr nifong was running in durham NC…. not raleigh NC. Journalism deserves accuracy
IP hash: e37b79dd
Duke is actually in Durham, NC - not Raleigh.
IP hash: 8b906d9f
perhaps she used Raleigh because it is the capital. she didn’t say he’s running for re-election IN Raleigh
IP hash: 03746fe5
Great article, but Nifong is da of Durham - not Raleigh.
IP hash: eca98550
Duke is located in Durham, not Raleigh
IP hash: 35221ffb
Emily..you obviously didn’t do your homework. You stated “..desperately needed the black vote that dominates Raleigh, N.C”. All these events have taken place in Durham, N.C..
IP hash: 1dd77170
Excellent Emily but PLEASE…..it is Durham, not Raleigh. Raleigh is not predominantly black and is not the scene of this debaucle. Confusing the 2 cities is like saying the crime took place in Seattle instead of Tacoma. Totally different cities.
IP hash: 2f426165
You didn’t mention that the AV had done this before….accusing 3 men of rape and then walking away (Butner, NC). The case is a disgrace and right up there with the accusations is the lack of support from Duke’s adminstration. President Broadheard should not got unscathed for his poor performance and lack of support for the 3 students and the whole Lacrosse team!!!
IP hash: 1f3c1cb1
Innocent until proven guilty is a legal term, not a “societal” one. Legally, all three defendants are innocent until proven guilty (which means they most likely will be innocent for the rest of their lives). Their constitutional guarantee has been met.
This is not a guarantee for society, however. We, who are not obliged to the same guarantees to our fellow citizens. There are some people who have actually been found not guilty where our extraneous ability to punish by out social function. The child molester who gets off on a technicality, the murderer who is found not guilty due to poor prosecution and celebrity, have all never been found guilty. But our societal power can be as important as the judicial power.
That said, I hope this case is dropped soon, Nifong is properly sanctioned, and that this does not have any lasting complications for and of the students who appear to have been improperly charged.
IP hash: ff052edd
just so you know, duke is in durham, nc, not raleigh.
IP hash: 3d33f206
I think you were looking for Durham, NC, not Raleigh.
IP hash: c0714534
nifong was not running for re-election. He was appointed by gov. easley so this was his first election.
IP hash: 5b0360da
The citizens of Wake County, home of the state capital of Raleigh, would not tolerate the likes of Mr. Nifong who has now been, for the FIRST time only, elected as district attorney by the voters of Durham County. Durham frequently gets just what it deserves, as shown by the many recent debacles in city and county government there.
IP hash: 842c30e1
Maybe someone else should mention the Raleigh/Durham thing. I’d like to read another comment about it.
IP hash: 4e5593a4
Good article, and a true one at that. It’s a shame that these boys were “guilty!” before the case was even made.
And to the other commentators: so she got the location wrong. Yes, it’s a mistake, but it doesn’t invalidate the entire article. I think she’ll figure it out from the first ten times it’s been pointed out.
IP hash: 86c5ec6f
Wait…I’m confused…
Is Duke University in Raleigh or Durham? Seriously, I have no idea. But kudos to the 854 people who felt obligated to correct it…congratulations, FIND SOMETHING TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE/TIME!
And regardless, the entire point is moo because you forget no one CARES about North Carolina in Wisconsin.
“Did you just say moo?” “Yeah, like a cow’s opinion — it just doesn’t matter.”
IP hash: c402a384
Dear Wisconsinite:
I guess perhaps you can just “moo” off now??
IP hash: 6fabc93d
So, let me get this straight: The stripper was from Fayetteville, the boys were from Chapel Hill, Nifong is from Winston-Salem, Dale Earnhardt is from Greensboro, and the Wright brothers first flew in Charlotte. This is why Carolina, as the Dukies say, should “go to hell.”
IP hash: aca2d935
Whats that like 10 corrections on which is the rich hick town and which is the poor hick town?
Must be a bunch of self-obsessed Raleigh residents googling themselves. Pathetic.
IP hash: 50da3276
Go Duke! UNC Sucks.
IP hash: 86c5ec6f
Wow, did you see Anonymous at 8:53am’s “burn” of Anonymous at 10:51pm? SERVED! See, because you see what they did there? They took the word “moo” and used it AGAINST the other person in place of the word “screw” or the dreaded f-bomb! That’s so clever! Seriously, where do you people come up with this stuff?!?!
IP hash: ee94f63a
Its important for a senior journalistic major to begin now to get the facts straight. Durham is the city in question and not Raleigh. Also its important to know the laws of each state. North Carolina has a law tha requires the prosecutor to runt over evert shred of evidence he has- not leave anything up his sleeve. Of course, the truth is he did hold evidence favorable to the defendants and lied to the judge which is only on the reasons he is being tried on ethics violations at this time. I liked your story and want you to be scrupulous in your attention to detail as this case demonstrates clearly how badly our country needs that.
IP hash: ee94f63a
How do you see comments before you comment?
IP hash: ee94f63a
This Badger Herald system has not allowed us to see comments before we post comments (as the Duke Chronicle does)which why there have been so many comments correcting the writer. However, it goes without saying really that journalism must be accurate and if Wisconsin is allowing this to go unchecked then they are contributing to range of problems that exist in the media and play havoc with justice.