"Mike Nifong should never have had to step down as district attorney. He did what he was elected by the people to do."
Somehow, I doubt that the people of Durham really wanted him to debase their justice system just so he could make headlines and get re-elected.

"Also, with DNA evidence available, most of the men freed are African American, but the only response they get is "oops." The crime even remains on their record unless the governor removes it.

Are we going after the attorney who prosecuted Darryl Hunt..."

Now it's very interesting that the writer mentions Darryl Hunt right after saying that freed black people don't get compensation. I seem to recall that Hunt did in fact get a bit more than "oops."

"These Duke boys were inconvenienced; they don't have a clue about having their lives disrupted."

Riiight. They were charged with rape, forced out of college, had the press following their every move for over a year and incurred millions of dollars in legal fees. All of which are perfectly normal parts of a college athlete's years at school.

"I say give Mike Nifong back his job. We need fair men like him."

The man tried to put away 3 young men for decades in prison for something they didn't do -- something he had clear evidence they didn't do! -- and this person considers him "fair"? I don't know... I think somehow that the people of Durham can do a little better.

I think Michelle wins the "O'henry Award" for the most ironic satire.

I second that.

This has to be a joke? No one could be this stupid! Could they?

Holy Crap McMillan, good news!!!! Purgatory is noew considering your application as Gate Keeper . . .

. . . Nifong is only slightly ahead of you . . .

I used to live in Durham and don't think the fine people there would elect Mike Nifong to tell lies and conceal evidence. I don't know what knothole is what tree the letter writer has her head in but think some of the nuts must have taken over her reasoning.

When I read this LTE I expected Julienne Malveaux to be the author. This letter smacks of ignorant racism.

Good point about Darryl Hunt Nemo. Although no money can make up for the time he spent in prison, Hunt was at least given money for the injustice against him.

I might add that comparing Hunt to the lacrosse players doesn't fly as DNA evidence technology was not available during Hunt's trial. If we didn't have DNA evidence today, those three guys would probably be spending a few decades in prison.

Mike Nifong is the epitome of what is wrong with our political system. Some will do ANYTHING to be elected to office.

****************************************

Here is the Julienne Malveaux quote. It's scary to think she is in charge of a college, you know, a place where young people go to learn:

"Those kids don’t deserve an apology. They hired strippers . . . They were known for hooliganistic behavior separate and apart from what happened to this woman. So, no, they don’t deserve any apologies at all . . . Not from the professors, not from anyone else.

Furthermore, obviously the woman—the victim in this case—has changed her story a couple [sic] of times . . . Well, frankly, I believe that something did happen there. We know that something happened. We know [sic] that these guys lied about their names, so she had difficulty identifying [them]. Something happened to this woman and she deserves a lot of our compassion.

Rev. [Jesse] Jackson, you know, offered to pay her way through school, and I think that’s a fine offer. I hope she takes him up on it. But I really, you know—I think something happened here. I think these guys are bad apples. They may not—you may not be able to prove rape; you may not be able to prove anything. But something did happen there, and it was something that was wrong."

Another big difference with the Duke case and the Hunt case is that in the Hunt case, he was convicted based upon a third party eye witness testimony. The witness was wrong in the identification, but it was an honest mistake, in the absence of DNA testing at the time. Mike Nifong had nothing but one person's claim that she was brutally raped. Nifong had nothing, other than a compeling urge to get re-elected, and no one in authority in Durham or Raleigh tried to stop or even slow it down, when it was obvious he had no case.

Michelle, either you are totally misinformed of the facts in this case, or you are a total loon. If you were falsely accused of a crime that could you in prison for most of your life, would you want Mike Nifong as the prosecutor?

It is as one of them said, when they die, their obituary will say that they were a defendent in the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case. What a legacy.

Weeping Jesus on the Cross!! This Letter to the Editor would harelip the Pope! Ms. McMillan, you probably think the "liberal media" is too hard on George Bush too? Face it, like Bush, Mike Nifong is incompetent. Oak Ridge Runner is right on the money---"It is as one of them said, when they die, their obituary will say that they were a defendent in the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case. What a legacy."

I agree with all of the above posts. OPP makes an excellent point. Given the evidence at the time in the Darryl Hunt case, the prosecutor had sufficient evidence to indict and try the case. From what I have read, the prosecution acted in good faith and the witness seemed credible. This is totally different from Nifong. Not only was there not enough evidence to indict, there was exculpatory evidence (DNA, the accused had an alibi, etc). Also, Nifong refused cooperation from the accused and then denied the cooperation.

I guess the point of the letter is when she states:

“I wonder if we will go after all attorneys who have prosecuted innocent men and take their licenses.”

We should certainly do this if the prosecutors acted as Nifong did, however, our justice system is imperfect and some innocent people will unfortunately be convicted. However overall, the justice system is heavily tilted toward the accused, as long as those in a position of trust are trustworthy. Prosecutors can’t necessarily be held responsible for faulty IDs, lying witnesses, police errors, etc. I know many prosecutors who all take accusations seriously, know the effects on the accused, and usually require an overabundance of evidence before agreeing to seek an indictment. There are many more accusations that never get prosecuted and even more that never get presented to the prosecutor.

I’m sure there are African Americans that have been convicted unfairly in the past, but I would question the assertion that there have been “countless African American men who have been falsely accused of rape with no evidence them.” This may have been true in the long distant past, but you would have to show me some proof to make me believe that this is a common occurrence now. She also states that these innocence men are behind bars when everyone in the justice system knows it. What drivel! I have to agree with Dan. This is nothing more than a racial diatribe that really has nothing to do with the Duke case or Nifong.

Michele McMillan is not a loon. She is not crazy. I believe she followed the case very thoroughly, and really believes what she is saying. In fact, I believe this woman is probably a very bright, intelligent, and well-educated person. That said, she very obviously subscribes to the beliefs of radical gender feminism.

Rape hysteria is an epidemic that plagues the western world. There have been numerous studies which suggest that many rape claims are unfounded. Dr. Warren Farrell wrote about a USAF internal study which found that false rape claims could at most be somewhere around 60%. Another study found that in 25% of rape claims, the DNA evidence has excluded the primary suspect entirely. Therefore we know conclusively that at least 25% of all rape claims are false, and could be as high as 60%.

The Duke-Lacrosse case is just a peek into the ugly world of radical gender feminism. Other examples of this type of hate-mongering include quotes from very prominent gender feminists:

“..the ratio of men to women must be radically reduced so that men approximate only ten percent of the total population"
- Sally Gearhart, The Future is Female

"All men are rapists and that's all they are"
-Marilyn French

"Men who are unjustly accused of rape can sometime gain from the experience"
-Catherine Comins, Vassar College

Collin Finnerty, Reade Seligmann, and David Evans would most certainly agree that they got no benefit from being falsely accused of raping Crystal Mangum. Yet we have educators, who held authoritative positions, such as Catherine Comins stating otherwise. Is this really the impression we want to give society about men?

It is apparent that being innocent until proven guilty is not a luxury men can be afforded when accused of rape.

Before you all start with your backlash I’ll say a few things. I do not feel that the three men falsely accused of rape in the Duke-lacrosse case are saints. In fact I’m of the impression they’re snotty little brats who’ve had things handed to them their entire lives, but that’s just my opinion. That said, it doesn’t give anyone the right to take away these men’s lives.

Women deserve to be treated with respect and equality. When rape does occur it is a heinous and vicious crime. In my eyes we should throw out the ‘cruel and unusual’ punishment clause solely to give rapists a taste of their own medicine. By that same token, I feel that women who falsely accuse men of rape should receive the same prison sentence that would have been afforded to the accused. This is what should happen, but in almost all cases; never does.

Bishop,

I happen to agree with your comments. Long story short, despite what you might see on Oxygen, women can be just as evil and vindictive as any man.

I think when everyone in this arena disagrees with the writer, then that should really tell the writer something. I hope she'll get on and read some of these comments so she may learn just how she came across.

I'm not playing devil's advocate, but I do feel that the writer had some good points about the justice system. Unfortunately, they were buried under VERY cloudy logic.

Two wrongs DO NOT make a right. I do believe that prosecutors can be overzealous to get another notch under their belt and do often care more about getting a prosecution than having a fair trial. I think when they go as far as concealing evidence that would exonerate the players in order to obtain that mission, they themselves should be prosecuted (not just disbarred) and thrown in jail.

And that goes regardless of the race of the wrongly accused.

"Let's consider the countless African American men who have been falsely accused of rape with no evidence against them. These men's lives have been destroyed, but no one cares."

I take it from the writer that this is a bad thing.

So Nifong does the same thing to rich white boys and we get.

"I say give Mike Nifong back his job. We need fair men like him."

This makes sense how??????????

"...despite what you might see on Oxygen, women can be just as evil and vindictive as any man."

Funny you should mention that. Violence against men is another area that radical gender feminists love to keep way down in the subbasement of the media.

In 72% of domestic violence cases, (men attacking women) men tend to use bodily force against women. In 63% of domestic violence cases (women attacking men) women used lethal weapons such as guns and knives. In many of these cases, women kill the man, claim one of the twelve female only defenses, and never serve one day in prison.

More and more research has shown that violence against men, meaning women who attack men is right on par with men who attack women. The reason you don't see the real statistics? They're never recorded. Most men who are beaten by their spouse or significant other never report it. They don't report it because the system is stacked against them.

As a man, what do you think the local Sheriff's office would do if you reported that your wife had beaten you? They'd probably laugh at you. It's for this reason men don't report violence against them.

While I have seen the results after these sick and twisted guys beat women; (trust me it's pretty gruesome) I don't believe for a minute that when women perpetrate violence against men that it is any less gruesome.

Violence against women is wrong. Violence against men is wrong. However, as long as the gender bias continues to be enacted against men, society will never recognize that it is humanity that needs to rid itself of its violent tendencies, not just men.

Bishop; You speak my mind!

Shalom

“I say give Mike Nifong back his job. We need fair men like him.”

“This makes sense how???????”

Rufus – I took that statement to be a lame attempt at sarcasm,i.e. that all the other prosecutors got away with jailing countless innocent African Americans…

LV,

Read the entire post.

She first says in effect that when white prosecutors jailed innocent black men that was an awful thing but nothing was said by the community at large.

When Nifong does the same thing to white boys then she lionizes him.

Perhaps you can explain to me how that makes sense.

Oak Ridge Runner wrote this about the Darryl Hunt case "..The witness was wrong in the identification, but it was an honest mistake." That statement has to be the stupidest thing that I have ever read in my life. This "honest mistake" sent an innocent man to prison for eighteen years. An "honest mistake." I'm sure that the prosecutor in the Hunt case was just interested in sending any black man to prison, and Darryl Hunt fit the bill. It's taking every ounce of restraint that I have not to elaborate any further about my opinion of your callousness and insensitivity.

conundrum,

"It's taking every ounce of restraint that I have not to elaborate any further about my opinion of your callousness and insensitivity"

I'm sure Oak Ridge Runner could give a Sugar Honey Ice Tea about whether or not you restrain yourself.

What's your opinion of the letter to the editor, conundrum?

Maybe that will allow you to stop restraining yourself and hopefully you won't make an ass out of yourself as much as Ms. McMillan did.

LV,

I misread your post. Sorry.

If that was lame sarcasm it was too subtle for me. It struck me as inappropriate and bizarre.

There's a bit of a point in her letter that prosecutors have done some of the same things that Nifong has done and gotten away with it but I think it's fair to say that his handling the case the way that he handled it with the media microscope on him the way that it was borders on insanity.

I'm sure that many of the cases that McMillan alludes to were handled in a lazy or sloppy manner, others probably with a racist bent, while others probably were handled well but "honest mistakes" were made.

What makes the Nifong case stand out to me is how obvious his unethical handling of the case was to most everyone in the country. Most folks will pull back when they get their hands caught in the cookie jar but he continued to plow ahead like everything was on the up and up.

That was what bordered on insanity.

Rufus,

I gotta agree with ya. Makes you wonder who else Nifong put away for life just to further his own ambitions.

I've been working in Charlotte all day, very good posts by most. Like the amnesty bill for illegal immigrants, it's heartening to see most of us agree on fundamental issues like justice. I'm not a Mike Easley fan but I have to give him kudos for getting Nifong outta there right now instead of his planned "retirement" date of July 13.

Of all the posts, I think ORR's one question to Michelle hit the nail on the head:

"If you were falsely accused of a crime that could you in prison for most of your life, would you want Mike Nifong as the prosecutor?"

Touché ORR.

conundrum,

Your post reminds me of Mike Nifong. You say "I'm sure that the prosecutor in the Hunt case was just interested in sending any black man to prison, and Darryl Hunt fit the bill." How is that you are so prescient to know that? It's just your bias, that's all it is.

I stand by my point that it was an honest mistake. It was honest in that an eyewitness identified Hunt, believing that Hunt was the person that they saw. It was wrong, but it was honest. If you believe and so state, without documentation of the fact, that the prosecutor was only interested in sending any black man to prison, you are no better than Mike Nifong. You have no regard for the facts.

Yeah, nitpicker, I tremble at his/her lack of restraint. Callousness and insensitivity, indeed. What hyperbole.

This woman needs to hurry to the nearest psychiatrist and beg for treatmnt. Nifong is
a vicious political hack who tried to destroy
the lives of three innocent men. He deserves to be in jail and never allowed to practice law again.To say that the three lacross players were
inconvenienced is the understatemnt of the decade.It will take years to get out from under
the cloud that Nifong put over their heads.

Ok, let's make sure the facts are in on Nifong. He was before a STATE BAR ETHICS "Court." They found him guilty of legal ethical violations; therefore, he was disbarred. It will be a long time before he can practice law in NC, if ever. For Nifong to be sent to jail requires criminal mischief. There is a difference!

And for the record, I am not a Nifong fan. I just feel that the cry for "send him to jail" is misguided.

Bishop noted this on yesterday; "In fact I’m of the impression they’re snotty little brats who’ve had things handed to them their entire lives, but that’s just my opinion. That said, it doesn’t give anyone the right to take away these men’s lives." I am in total agree with these sentiments.

I believe that they are far from the "good boy" status that some would purport. Remember, one was on a "good behavior" judgement from Washington, DC when he entered Duke in 2005!

Shalom

Since this horse is "dead", I'll throw out this NEWSFLASH for the apologists to read:
WARNING! THE CONTENT MAY BE DISTURBING TO ONE IN FOUR. MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19352087/site/newsweek/

A letter about Mike Nifong morphs into Bush approval ratings. The connection? Oh well, at least you didn't bring up abortion.

Bush is sinking even lower, rightfully so, by alienating (pun intended)conservatives with the illegal immigrant amnesty bill.

One bit of good news for Bush, his approval rating is higher than Congress. Recent Gallup poll has Congress at 14%, the lowest in Gallup's history.

http://www.galluppoll.com/content/default.aspx?ci=27946

Dan,
Please read next time---I indicated we were at the point of "whipping a dead horse"! Stick a fork in Nifong..he's done.
**********

Yes, Bush is now at NIXON level..WHEW! That is still not as disturbing as this from our VP....

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19360916/

Guess he doesn't answer to Bush, but to a higher power...HIMSELF!
He must have missed that day in school where they taught about DEMOCRACY.

This is the WORST administration since Andrew Johnson and Ulysess Grant....in fact this will probably go down as THE worst...definitely of modern times.

I see nothing at all has changed here. The Liberal Canadian Deacon still hijacks any and all threads to Bush Bash Central.

Hmmm. It seems you cant swing a dead cat in here w/o hitting a dead horse.

I cant believe folks still put up with this person. Lib or Con. LCD simply takes a lot of air outta the room. Too bad.

I can read Demon Deacon but the horse ain't dead yet. There will be more Nifong news, hopefully at least some civil lawsuits.

I notice you didn't comment on the 14% approval rating for the Pelosi and Reid led Congress. Guess that slipped your mind.

Unlike you, I'll be fair, Bush has pissed me off royally with this immigration bill, cronyism scandals, and excessive spending. He isn't a very good president. That being said, I don't focus my entire life on Bush as you do, but that's one of the symptoms of BDS as Mick points out. I don't possess a rabid hatred for the man and equate him with Nazis.

Also, I don't see Hillary or Obama as the magic pill to the countries woes.

It seems that the only thing worse than Bush in the eyes of the American people is the Democratic led Congress. Would you like to be fair and comment on that?

The left is mighty ticked with them on their ineptitude in getting out of Iraq and just about EVERYONE is fed up with the ENTIRE govt. over immigration.

First of all, a tip of the hat to Mick Riggs for jumping in when he saw his "man" getting pummeled in the court of public opinion...Mick, you're one in four, so you really don't carry much weight around the country. In fact one in three people, according to
Preparation-H, have hemmorrhoids! That's more than the folks who support Bush! LOL!

Dan,
Once again, your lack of reading hurts you. Even if you had read Will Rogers' comments from 70+ years ago, you'd know that Congress has NEVER had much of an approval rating. Ever heard the saying, "love your congressman, but hate congress"? Funny how you just try to deflect from the OBVIOUS. Go to hand it to you though, you are like clockwork when it comes to being predictable.

I see you have no comment on the VP's defiance of an executive order SIGNED BY BUSH! Should we take that as your support for Cheney too? Mick will be proud of you.

You attempt to be a master of spin Demon Deacon, however my toilet water can spin better after a good flush.

Gallup isn't a member of the vast right wing conspiracy. They stated that the 14% Congressional approval rating is the lowest in Gallup history. Fact is, in case you are unaware, Congress is led by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. Hint, hint Demon Deacon, DEMOCRATS!!! The great saviors of Nov. 2006 are not pleasing the base Demon Deacon. Ignore it if you want, fine with me, but I'm used to you ignoring facts.

Remember that "conservative" Supreme Court that ruled against Kelo v New London?

I called Mick, he doesn't have hemorrhoids (spelled correctly), neither do I, I guess that leaves you.

Dan,
Being in the 26% really must kill you. A year ago, you were carrying water for Bush to the point of lunacy, but now you try to dodge that. I wonder why? Heck, if anyone said even a unkind word about Bush, you would jump up all over them. It got so bad I even accused you of worshipping Bush as your "lord and savior"! Remember that Danny???

Oh, but you are born anew! You don't overtly defend him like you did, but you dang sure jump on the "Fan Wagon" when someone else takes up for him. That is hilarious!

And to your ridiculous post about Congress, you are a simpleton. Congress is not elected by ALL the people as the President is. Sure, we have our own Congressmen, but I didn't get to vote for Mark Foley or William Jefferson. I did get a chance to vote for or against Bush and I'm proud to say I've NEVER voted for anyone named Bush! Dub's dad is a decent man, but his son shares more in common with you--ie Fredo in the Godfather..."I'm smahhhrt! I'm smahhrt! Not like everyone says!"

Oh, and you never did respond to the one about the VP!!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19360916/

I'll bet Cheney couldn't get 13% approval!
Oh, but I'll bet you just loved Dr. Gish!
LOL!!!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19190916/

Ahhhhh, I just squeezed out a big one, flushed the john, and thought of you while the water was spinning the turd down to the septic tank. Spin away Demon Deacon. A turd is a turd.

Congress was elected by ALL the people in their respective states and districts, just in case you didn't know how that works. The electorate as a WHOLE brought Dems to power as a Congressional majority last November, each with their respective votes in their state and districts, expecting great changes. See how it works now? Facts are facts.

The Congress that was collectively elected by the American people last November, led by Pelosi and Reid, enjoys an approval rating of 14%. Spin the facts anyway you want, they still remain the facts.

BTW, if you can find any post in the archives where I've supported Bush on immigration or excessive spending, please post the FACTS. Betcha can't. As I've said, this immigration bill is pathetic and I don't support it.