This post is closed. Comment on the latest developments here:

http://lashawnbarber.com/archives/2006/06/22/duke-rape-case/

Lashawn- please tell me you’ve seen this:
http://wilmingtonjournal.blackpressusa.com/news/Article/Article.asp?NewsID=70514&sID=4

Maddening as it sometimes proves, I try to spend equal time reading & listening to perspectives from both sides of issues I’m interested in, just to see if I’m turning myopic in my own views – to that end, I was reading this afternoon a lengthy piece from “The Wilmington Journal” built around an interview with AV’s cousin “Jakki”. Lo and behold I cast my eyes upon this juicy passage – I quote:

“Jakki and the family of the alleged vicitm are well aware of the high stakes, and ‘are very concerned,’ she says.

‘These people have money [and] they want to make this go away. They want to make my cousin look like a harlot, a Jezebel, and they want this to go away.’

Given the tremendous opposition from the major media and the blogs, thanks to defense motions releasing prosecution documents that reportedly call into question the alleged victim’s claims, it seems as if there is almost a united front in the white community that she is not to be bnelieved, though there have been a few Black conservatives like Thomas Sowell, LaShawn Barber and Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson who have joined the crowd.”

So, you see, Lashawn, you can safely leave in the past any thoughts of railing against MSM – after all, according to the Wilmington Journal – it is the “tremendous opposition from the major media and blogs” (translation – you) that is to blame for the state of public opinion on the Duke case today. Don’t you feel better about MSM already?

Geez, talk about a tenuous grip on reality … MSM practically had the Duke students bound for the chain gang within days of the story breaking, now the plainly contradictory facts come out & FINALLY get reported in MSM, and the Wilmington Journal has it that MSM is AGAINST the AV & the black community in general? it makes my head hurt …

Did I say State? NOT!! I said “Raleigh” but maybe should have said “Peace College,” the fine, but small, all girls Presbyterian college in Raleigh…. spittin’ distance from the legislature, where Liston Ramsey used to scratch favorite chiggers….

As for the other question, there’s only one Carolina. And we got Roy!!!

Some women like stripping and do very well financially. To argue that these boys deserve what these vile strippers and Nifong did to them because they like watching naked women dance is ridiculous.

To avoid strippers from victimizing innocent boys, colleges should be required to provide them. They can add them as a female sports team to balance the numbers of male and femal athletes in compliance with Title IX.

And how are the parents supposed to police these young men when they are living outside their homes; outside of their state? They are grown men, after all…

You need to think about how you would feel if someone in your family was FALSELY accused of first-degree rape, first-degree kidnapping and first-degree assault. I’m sure you would change your tune.

Your argument is delusional…

I doubt it. Unlike in many fields of endeavor, for an elected DA the maxim of “any publicity is good publicity” does not typically hold true – unless the bad publicity can be parlayed into profitable post-public employment with some contingent that benefited from or applauded the actions which produced the bad publicity in the first place. I think Nifong thought he had a chance to get out in front of a parade, and grabbed it, but now its looking more like he’s headed for a tarring and feathering – nationally, anyway, perhaps not locally. As to whether there has been “too much focus” on him -hardly. He’s the only person in this entire debacle with full, complete, unreviewable, and absolute discretion to toss the case – his decision not to do so thus far merits abundant scrutiny, review & analysis, and every word of the discussion about him, the case, and the societal implications appearing here & elsewhere.

On the point of your earlier post – “They should all be punished” – of the two types of conduct you reference with regard to the Duke students, I’ll spot you that underage drinking is illegal (a misdemeanor typically punishable by a fine), but ogling “strippers” generally is not. The bottom line though is that, without what appears to be an altogether bogus charge of rape, coupled with a deluded district attorney, there is no national news story here, no police & DA intervention, no need to go hire criminal defense counsel (or any other kind of lawyers). This entire fisco seems to be about escalation – the first serious crime was committed when (as I personally have concluded appears likely to have been the case) one or both “performers” decided to “get back” at the allegedly boorish lacrosse players by falsely reporting a crime against them, and not just any crime, a felony crime, and not just any felony crime, but a rape, and not just any rape but a gang rape, and not just any gang rape, but one with the special circumstances of sodomy with a foreign object and kidnapping. NOW you’ve got something that merits punishment …

Aw, give us a break, Leslie. Lives shouldn’t be “ruined” ’cause a college kid goes out for some illicit imbibing and risque observing …. Last I checked, underage drinking here in NC gets you a mere citation, with court costs and fine, maybe even “community service” if you get an assistant DA who will drop the charge, and no one is going to arrest a boy over 18 for going to see a stripper.

What these kids have gotten in the aftermath of such a minor level of rowdiness is huge bonds, huge legal costs, their mug shots on Newsweek’s cover, jobs revoked or booted out of school, and a host of other impacts, ALL BECAUSE OF LIES, AGENDAS, ELECTIONS, SLOPPY POLICE WORK AND A HOST OF OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES that even the most vigilant of parents couldn’t have anticipated.

Did you engage in any hijinks in college? Then don’t throw your stones.

If you didn’t succumb to the temptation of hijinks and partying in college …. jeez, go get a life.

(BTW, I do have a rising senior in college in Raleigh, and a daughter enrolling as a freshman at Carolina in August. I expect them to take a break from studying to have some fun, and it’s my fervent hope that they will do so safely.)

There’s been to much focus on him and I think that’s what he wants.

I know everybody has to look at this thing from a legal standpoint now, but I don’t feel sorry for anyone involved. “Lives ruined” should have been considered before the behavior was conducted. Nobody should be exempt, them or her. Underage drinking and strippers? You’re a college to learn. This is not Animal House. Parents turn a blind eye to the activities of their kids and then when something like this happens, they are in shock. The neighbors probably saw this trainwreck coming down the track. As for the stripper, need I say more? They should all be punished.