http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_lacrosse

Curiously enough I just read an article on this. And it's all Nifong's personal crusade.

Their reputations and lives are shaken to the core because of this.

This is where real racism comes from. Knee-jerk reactions in the absence of facts.

Whoever made this video needs an irony detector;
lobbing accusations at professors in a video about false accusations?
I got a big laugh out of the "doesn't like christian students" one.

And the martyr-ish song choice and attacks on the Black Panther Party and Jesse Jackson (two once-powerful non-entities drummed back up to scare suburban white folk into voting Republican) are definitely a product of someone who watches too much Fox Noise Channel.

The accused have rich parents with expensive lawyers and no one will remember this in time;
I hadn't thought about it until someone submitted this.
False accusations of rape occur, but extremely rarely. It's a natural reaction for people to want to protect those who've been raped and punish those who rape; they certainly shouldn't be crucified for one girl's error in judgment.

It started out making some good points about local politics, then turned into a huge, flaming turd.

but then thays the ho???

You know what, Id agree with you Theo47 save for one error in your judgement, In this country you're innocent until proven beyond a reasonable doubt. These Gentleman didnt get that respect when they where on trial. Protect the victim sure, but make sure shes the victim first.

Let me also say this, In my few years at college there where no less that 15 rape charges filed against men in my university appartment building. Only one of these cases ever went to trial because every other case was dropped when it became obvious that the "Victim" was using it as a weapon. I saw women file rape charges against there boyfriends when he broke up with them, I saw women File rape charges against men that wouldnt date them, all because these women had learned that the word rape ruins someone. The mere accusation of rape can destroy a life because people will always wonder if that is the type of person you really are.

I feel fortunate during that time that I was less than popular, else it might have been my head on the chopping block, But I'll say this, Once accused, guilty or not, a rape charge never leaves your shadow.

arekin, Duke isn't Guantanamo - these guys are getting trials, and determining whether or not the accuser is telling the truth or not is what the trial is for.
There are serious problems with the prosecution of it, and if you go to the Wikipedia link above, the prosecutor is being seriously hammered for ethics violations.

I do find your rape story a bit fishy, and even if true, I'm guessing nothing went to trial.

To call this a "violation of human rights" does seem to be a bit overheated. It seems to me that the legal system (in concert with the media--after it stopped hyping the case) actually worked. The accused had a very good defense team, the truth has been uncovered, and this reprehensible prosecutor will not likely prosecute criminal cases again. And it is only a matter of time before the kidnapping and other charges are dropped.

Human Rights title is more in reference to the treatment of eachother as indivials who have rights entitled to all people. The point is the media slaughtered the players before anything even went to court and damage that cannot be undone. The major media outlets never covered the resolution to this story. It was simply dropped.

I can post some vids of the boys and their families on 60 Minutes and a number of other TV appearances tearing Nifong several new ones.

But I agree with you completely, gorgonheap, that the cable news media did in this case what cable news media always does -- breathlessly hyped a story without analysis or care and then skulked away to breathlessly cover the death and embalming of the bovine Vicki Smith.

I disagree that the damage cannot be undone. The defendants are getting due process of law, even if they are not getting due process of screaming head TV. All of the accused will get their education paid for by Duke. They will have no problem getting jobs because I feel that 90% of the nation sympathizes with them now. They will still be white. They will still be affluent.

And Durham, NC will still have a festering townie/gownie race problem.

way too often does TV news mean propaganda and political views. I want NEWS not your damn opinion or how you feel. And the Duke players got screwed plain and simple. For the rest of their lives some close minded people are going to think of them as rapists.

We all know this Duke Lacrosse deal resonated more and more so that we wouldn't, you know, think about Iraq.

Since when did the media ever let us forget about Iraq. I fail to see the connection to who is creating these distracitons from the war.

Noone knows who these guys are. The media didn't ruin them for life, just for the 15 minutes this was in the national headlights.

And they came out as heroes and martyrs to most of their demographic, so rather than ruin them, they got an enhancement in reputuation.