That's how I feel, as well, minus the "I went to school with" part.

This case is making me sick. Every black talking head in the country is coming out and making these "modern day lynching" comments. They don't give a damn about this girl, but are just trying to promote ridiculous agendas and slandering the white majority. Whats more, it is making the entire southern black community look bad. There are plenty of southern black people trying to buck the traditional stereotypes, only to have their efforts thrashed by things like this. Every time one of these people goes on TV and talks about a white conspiracy, while yelling at the host and the other guests for being "racist", they are hurting the causes they claim to promote.

Agreed. Her friends at that other school or whatever look plain trashy on tv. Their protesters are rendered ridiculous, because it didn't even happen. They fit my stereotype of black people perfectly. Good job guys!

Passionate debate.

Ok this is my problem with this situation:

Initially we have a woman that comes forward claiming to be raped by three men at a party with 40 plus lacrosse guys.

Thats fine.

But the DA went public with the allegations making some very strong claims. That she was definitely raped, that the DNA was going prove it and that the lacrosse players were not cooperating.

Here is the problem, she is accusing three of the team members but everyone is getting punished. In fact, by not charging the three she picked out they are basically trying all 40 plus of them in the media.

Duke University has cancelled their entire season based on the allegations against three members. Their coach resigned based on the allegations against three members.

And in the eyes of the rest of the world, it seems like all 40 plus of them are potentially guilty of rape . . . because of the allegations against three members.

As far as the rest of the team not cooperating, from my understanding a few of them made statements and then sought the advice of a lawyer. As they should. In any legal matter you should always sek the advice of an attourney. Thats just common sense. They shouldn't be blamed for it.

A tribute to how effective media campaigns are in convicting people can be see on greekchat. You would think that everyone here would be backing off a little and saying, "what if these guys are innocent?" Especially as new physical evidence comes out.

And yet many people are still devoted to her position in a way that defies rationality.

Was she raped? I have no way of knowing. But neither do any of you, so maybe we should all hedge our bets a little bit and start logically considering the physical evidence rather than respond emotionally.

Could she have lied about what took place? Sure, why not? Why would she lie? I don't know. But we have exonerated a number of people that spent decades in jail for rape . . . maybe we should ask the women why they falsely accused them.

Ok. Here is what really happened.

She was paid by a rival Lacrosse team to destroy Duke's team. So we just have to look at which Lacrosse teams benefited the most from Duke's destruction and investigate them . . .

Really? It looks like you need to adjust your view and narrow the brush that you are painting with.

If you think the efforts of PLENTY of Southern black people can be thrashed by such incidents, then you are sadly mistaken. Stereotypes are only reinforced when confused people like yourself allow them to be. The "black talking heads" that have spoken on this issue both locally and nationally have a diversity of opinions on this matter, as well as communication styles. I have actually seen more "white talking heads" on national television yelling and screaming about nonsensical, racialized speculation than I have "black talking heads."

Emotional people with "eccentric" communication styles and seemingly unfounded accusations come out the woodworks for situations such as this. The same applies to whites when whites get riled up on certain issues. The difference is that whites are less likely to feel they are being the targets of differential treatment, which automatically gives whites' emotions, opinions, and anger more credibility in AmeriKKKa's eyes.

BTW, your opinion is yet ANOTHER reason why this issue is unavoidably about race.

NPR had sound with the DA and a couple of law professors on this morning. All said basically the same thing -- that's it's entirely possible that a rape can occur and no DNA be left, and that, while it's more difficult to prove, depending on other evidence (notably eyewitness testimony, etc.), a conviction can be obtained without DNA.

I think the DA also said that he was still waiting for more DNA results, but didn't elaborate.

There was also an interview with a woman from an advocate center who said that since we don't know what the evidence is, it's way to premature to be making any judgements one way or the other.

Which I think is what some posters are trying to say.

Frank DeFord's commentary was also partially on this case.

You can probably hear all of this stuff at npr.org.

Correct. I agree with that because I don't form opinions of guilt or innocence so quickly. I do, however, comment on the extralegal factors that contribute to cases. That seems to be what most of this thread is about (i.e. calling the exotic dancer a "prostitute").

But, there has never been a rape case that has received media attention in which people did not attempt to comment on the guilt or innocence of the accusser and accussee. That's especially the case when you add social class and race to the mix.

So, people need to get over the fact that humans are going to discuss and debate even in the absence of hard evidence. Such discussions and debates happen all the time on GC so no point in censoring it now.

Uhm, they were a group of males in their sexual prime?





NOTE: This is not a message for or against anyone's innocence or guilt, just making an observation.

lol I mean how exactly would strippers stay in business if groups of guys didn't hire them?

And again she worked for an escort agency so she also worked as a prostitute. Both are good professions :)

It's also important to note that the DA is running for re-election and needs to get as much press time as possible and to be "loved" by a community that has taken the prostitute's/stripper's side.

-Rudey

OT
 

I thought he was dead. Huh?

Anyway, carry on.

Cases like these are a reason why I do not think DA's or judges should be elected officials. They have to worry too much about what the public thinks and worry about reelection that it can cloud their ability to do the right thing.

Re: OT
 

No, he's a Senior Writer with Sports Illustrated and does a commentary on NPR Morning Edition every Wednesday.

Edited to add these links:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...toryId=5337959

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...toryId=2100422

Hell freaking agreed. In my experience, prosecutors often fall into the mindset that they must obtain convictions at any cost -- making their jobs depend on public opinion only makes this worse.

Re: OT
 

Maybe you're thinking of Dick Schaap?