The Duke rape case turned into a nightmare for the entire Duke lacrosse team and especially for the three team members identified and indicted as the perpetrators. Duke University was accused of being a hotbed of white privilege, racism and sexism. Professors rushed to judgement and encouraged inflammatory demonstrations against the accused which were then fueled by some out-of-state loudmouths.
Now that the accused - Reade Seligmann, Dave Evans and Collin Finnerty - have been declared innocent, has justice been served? Not entirely. Let's take a look at the degree of justice exacted on those - the accuser, the prosecutor, the professors, the reverends and the Duke administration - who had a major impact on the lives of the accused, using a scale of zero to ten.
THE ACCUSER. Crystal Gail Mangum, a 28 year old black single mother of three children, accused three white Duke lacrosse players of gang raping and brutalizing her at an off-campus team party where she performed as a stripper to help pay her way through North Carolina Central University, a predominantly black school. Eventually DNA tests revealed the presence of semen from several men, none of whom were members of the lacrosse team.
The accuser has been totally discredited and the three indicted team members have been declared innocent by the Attorney General of North Carolina who had taken over the case from the local prosecutor. SCALE OF JUSTICE: 3. At most, her reputation has been sullied. Although she should be, Mangum will not be prosecuted for perjury or for making false accusations. Not long after she made her accusations, she was video taped pole dancing in a strip joint.
THE ROGUE PROSECUTOR. Last Saturday, Mike Nifong had his law license revoked for "Dishonest and Deceitful" conduct in a trial by a panel of the State Bar. The panel disbarred Nifong for lying to the court, for withholding exculpatory DNA evidence, for misleading the news media, and for making prejudicial public statements against the acccused.
Has justice finally been served with the disbarment of Nifong? Not yet. SCALE OF JUSTICE: 7. He probably will not face criminal charges. Lawsuits are expected to be filed against Nifong by the accused whose lives were ruined and by their families who were forced to spend untold sums of money for the defense of their falsely accused sons.
THE GROUP OF 88. The rape was alleged to have occurred on March 13, 2006. On April 6, well before anyone had been charged in this case, 88 faculty and staff took out a full page ad in the Duke Chronicle, a campus student newspaper. The rush to judgement ad was initiated by professors in Duke's African and African-American Studies department. They were joined by faculty and staff, mostly professors, from 13 departments in the humanities discipline. They became known as the Group of 88.
The ad referred to the alleged rape as a "social disaster" and declared that, according to student testimonials, Duke University was rife with racism and sexism. The ad was instrumental in inflaming hatred against white Duke athletes and against the three accused lacrosse players. Individually, some of the professors condemned the lacrosse team and demanded they confess to what occurred at the off-campus team party. Other professors encouraged demonstrations against the accused. Some apparently gave bad grades to students because they were on the lacrosse team.
Once the accused players had been declared innocent, there was a demand that the Group of 88 take out another ad apologizing for their rush to judgement and for their role in inflaming racial animosities. All 88 refused to apologize, stating instead that their ad merely called attention to the racism and sexism which existed and continues to exist on campus. All insist their views are protected by the doctrine of Academic Freedom. SCALE OF JUSTICE: 0. Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist Doug Marlette pictured the Group of 88 as being part of a "lynch mob."
In my opinion, any faculty or staff member from the Group of 88 who refuses to apologize should be fired. Their ad and their individual condemnations of the accused have absolutely nothing to do with the issue of Academic Freedom, a doctrine which protects college faculty from being disciplined for expressing unpopular views IN THE CLASSROOM.
THE LOUDMOUTH REVERENDS. Al Sharpton and Jessee Jackson, who have been called terrorists by a black journalist from the Kansas City Star, were quick to jump on the bandwagon against the privileged white lacrosse players. They helped lead the demonstrations which inflamed racial hatred and offered their support to the alleged rape victim.
Have they apoligized for their rush to judgement and for their inflammatory rhetoric? Of course not. That's par for the course for those two rabble-rousers. Not a peep out of either once since the three accused players have been declared innocent. SCALE OF JUSTICE: 0.
THE UNIVERSITY ADMINISTRATION. The Duke administration, like everyone else, was quick to rush to judgement. It suspended Seligmann, Evans and Finnerty, cancelled the lacrosse season, disbanded the team, and forced the resigantion of the lacrosse coach. Unlike others, the administration has shown some contrition in this case. It reinstated the team for the next season. It invited the three falsely accused players to return to the school well before they were officially declared innocent. And, to head off a lawsuit, it has just reached a settlement with the accused and their families. Also, it settled with a student who received a bad grade for being on the lacrosse team. SCALE OF JUSTICE: 5.
With Nifong, justice has only been partially served by the revocation of his license to practice law. There will be no finality of justice with Nifong until the pending civil suits against him have been resolved. There will be no prosecution of Mangum because the authorities fear being condemned for picking on a poor black single mother of three who may be mentally unstable. There will be no justice with the Group of 88 - none of them will be fired or otherwise disciplined. There will be no finality of justice for the falsely accused - despite their innocence, Seligmann, Evans and Finnerty will forever be associated with "The Duke Rape Case," a stigma they will carry to their graves.
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