From a reader:
Jonah, I hope you’re right; but the charges first have to be dismissed or the plantiffs acquitted. Nifong will never ask for dismissal; given his actions to date, if he did, Nifong might as well resign and write the Duke Three a fat check for damages at the same time. And, given the racial polarization in that community and the local media’s highly selective coverage (shades of OJ), there’s a real chance that a “carefully selected” jury could convict those kids. And even if not; even if they’re vindicated and awarded damages – so what? These are young men at the start of their lives, and they’d collapse into hysterics if they truly understood how many doors are now sealed against them. Wall Street, where at least two of them were headed, wouldn’t hire them now with a note from the Pope countersigned by God (trust me, we ding people for a lot less). Bar associations can refuse to admit them, even if acquitted, based on an internal assessment of ‘poor moral character’ (laughable, but it happens). Elite graduate programs, dominated by liberals, can ape the Rev. Al Sharpton and decide the ‘truth’ of racism is more important than the particular ‘truths’ in this case, and will likely deny them entry. These kids are well and truly scr*wed, and the sad fact that this is readily apparent to almost any fair minded individual makes not a bit of difference.
On the other hand, from a reader:
Dear Mr. G, It is entirely possible the Lacrosse players have had their lives ruined. Possible, but not probable. Here is the silver lining to the wrongly accused: Imagine being reimbursed for a four year undergraduate degree from Duke, all expenses paid. And I do mean ALL expenses. Imagine, further, making a demand to be admitted to any post undergraduate program Duke has to offer. Say for example, Duke’s law school. Under those circumstances I’d let my face be shown on 60 Minutes as an “alleged rapist”. Then smile all the way to the bank thanking the Duke Administration for being so, shall we say, stupidly politically correct? It just might teach Duke a lesson (though I doubt it since we’re talking about taxpayer money). Mark Zugelder