What needs to be said
Kevin pretty much nails what needs to be said about the leaked details of the settlement offer proposed by attorneys for the three Duke lacrosse players.
The only thing i have to add is that if the $10 million each is seeking were to be used to start a trust fund to compensate other victims of miscarriage of justice, i have no problems with it.
As far as the ombudsman goes, hey, that's a great idea, but any lawyer worth his salt, as Barry Scheck most assuredly is, knows that the measure of Durham's clout in the state legislature is minimal. And that if this is a reform that they really want to happen, they'll need to do more than just ask for Durham to get behind it. Threatening legal action against the state, which as Kevin correctly notes was Mike Nifong's employer, might better get the attention of the folks in Raleigh.
The only thing i have to add is that if the $10 million each is seeking were to be used to start a trust fund to compensate other victims of miscarriage of justice, i have no problems with it.
As far as the ombudsman goes, hey, that's a great idea, but any lawyer worth his salt, as Barry Scheck most assuredly is, knows that the measure of Durham's clout in the state legislature is minimal. And that if this is a reform that they really want to happen, they'll need to do more than just ask for Durham to get behind it. Threatening legal action against the state, which as Kevin correctly notes was Mike Nifong's employer, might better get the attention of the folks in Raleigh.
Labels: 27701, Duke lacrosse, Mike Nifong
Since 1949, Durhamites have slept soundly, secure in the knowledge that, in our town, erection can be depended upon. Now, thanks to the power of the internets, we can spread that security all over the world.
9 Comments:
Random link with AP feed.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070907/D8RGHIK80.html
In addition to the money, the attorneys are seeking the creation of ombudsman positions to review complaints of misconduct about North Carolina district attorneys, the source said. They also want Durham city officials to lead the lobbying for any legal changes that would require action by the state's General Assembly.
As pointed out in another thread, NC's DAs are accountable to no one. Right now, other NC DAs are trying to reduce the reach of the disclosure law that nabbed Nifong and prevent the passage of a law that gives oversight of their actions. In other words, they're taking home the wrong lesson from what happened to Nifong. In the future they'll be more careful - to not get caught.
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Anonymous, at 9:42 AM
The point i was attempting to make relates to this sentence:
They also want Durham city officials to lead the lobbying for any legal changes that would require action by the state's General Assembly.
Durham's clout in the lege is minimal. If they really want the ombudsman position created, demand for it is going to have to come from other vectors, not just Durham.
If they just want to see Durham give it a go, and then shrug their shoulders when it fails to garner support, then their approach is fine.
As you note, there will be resistance in the law enforcement community to these reforms. Most of the time, victims of this sort of malfeasance tend to be poor and powerless. This is an opportunity for people in a position to create change to actually do so, and not grandstand about it.
Asking that Durham take the lead in lobbying the lege is grandstanding, IMO. They could do more.
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Barry, at 9:52 AM
Just as expected, you're asking for the party that's been wronged to "do more". The Durham leadership should do more. They're the guilty party. Or are you happy with them simply adding the settlement to your tax bill and taking no responsibility for their failures?
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Anonymous, at 10:46 AM
I see you're having a bit of reading comprehension difficulties this morning. I'll type more slowly for you.
If actually creating the ombudsman position to minimize these types of abuses by law enforcement personnel is in fact important to the plaintiffs, then asking the city of Durham to take the lead in lobbying the state legislature to make this change is an insufficient step.
And yes, if the plaintiffs are successful in getting $10 million apiece out of the city, (which as Kevin points out is more than double what Barry Scheck got from the city of Detroit on behalf of a client who spent 17 fucking years in jail for a crime he didn't commit), then hell yeah, i'd expect them "to do more."
Talk is cheap.
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Barry, at 11:11 AM
Why do you expect the wronged party to spend the settlement money fixing an NC problem that caused the problem in the first place? That's absurd. It's like the Soviet Union billing the family of executed political prisoners for the cost of the bullet used in the execution.
The people who should work to fix the NC problem are the NC leadership (although it's a stretch to call them that.) The Durham leadership has the absolute moral authority (to borrow an expression) and obligation to work to see that the rules are changed. The fact that they can't make it happen overnight or on their own authority is not relevant. If they're going to restore faith in our governmental functions they need to been seen making the effort to fix the problem. And yes, symbolism is important. If they had any conscience they would be doing it already and damn the liability consequences.
And if you really are going to argue proportionality, Mike Nifong should at least get the sentence that Scooter Libby got (which sentence you were cheering). One day and no fine is a joke. Under NC law, the maximums were 30 days and $500 fine. That needs to be changed too.
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Anonymous, at 11:35 AM
If i had never heard of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, i might think your argument had some validity.
History, even recent history, tells us that if you want to see injustice changed, you can't sit around and wait for it to happen.
I haven't said that the leadership of NC, especially that of Durham, has no obligation to try to fix structural problems in law enforcement. Of course they do.
If the potential plaintiffs in this case are truly interested in making structural changes, the MADD model would be a good approach for them to take. Time will tell if that is truly their goal.
Your Nifong/Libby analogy is stupid enough that it makes me consider turning off anonymous comments for the time being. However, the entertainment value of your continued participation is so great that it prevails over Teh Stupid.
Thanks for your obsessiveness.
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Barry, at 11:45 AM
You continue to claim that the lax players have no right to act like injured parties if they don't take any settlement and spend it on fixing NC's problem. If I were them, I'd take the money and leave you to your sorry cesspool and it's CYA attitude.
It's funny you bring up the MADD model. Their founder quit when they changed focus from preventing drunk driving (a worthy goal) to the neo-prohibitionist stance they have now which included a successful campaign to raise the drinking age to 21. Without that raised driking age, the Duke students could party on campus and would not be bothering the people in Trinity Park. Both groups could simply go about their business without conflict which should be the goal.
Libby -> during testimony differed with a newsie about a conversation they had two years prior during an investigation where there was no crime which investigation should have been shut down after two weeks yet the prosecutor kept at it because he had to nail someone for something.
Nifong-> should have shut down an investigation after two weeks because there was no crime but continued to shred the ethical obligations of his office and the law because he had to nail someone. I'm sure all those calling for a trial were at least hoping for a difference in testimony so they could get someone on perjury.
In a just world both Nifong and Fitz would have gotten Libby's sentence. And Kim Roberts and Crystal Mangum would both be in jail with them for lying to the authorities.
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Anonymous, at 12:33 PM
Aw, geez. LB, you don't have to post anonymously on my blog. You're like the retarded cousin in the attic when i visited my grandparents that i never had. I miss it when you don't sign on.
To clarify for those of you who scored less than 450 on your reading SATs, i don't give a flying fuck if the Duke lax players sue Durham, take the money, and move to a tropical island in the south Pacific, never to be heard from again.
But, if they say they want to make sure that the system changes so that no one ever has to go through what they went through again, then, fuck, yes, i expect them to put their money where their mouth is.
The world is, alas, full of injustices. And guess what?
some of them are committed against otherwise privileged white people.
Want those injustices to go away?
Work for it.
Like the rest of us do.
Otherwise shut the fuck up.
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Barry, at 7:48 PM
Yeah, you work to fight injustice. Noble you as you cheerlead the media rush to condemn.
http://dependableerection.blogspot.com/2006/03/duke-lax.html
Justice will be when Durham pays for its actions. That can be monetary and otherwise. You working for that?
Better pay that 30 mil now before it gets into court because that's the lowball best-case you can get away with. You think Durham looks like crap now, just wait until the depositions start. Duke had the good sense to settle.
Too bad. That 30 mil could have built a school or two if the Durm leadership hadn't been so screwed up. These would be the people that you want re-elected.
And nice mouth. Your mommy know you talk like that? Shut up? No YOU shut up! I just love the 3rd grade discourse you encourage on your blog.
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Anonymous, at 1:22 PM
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