Justice still has not been served
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by user False Prophet
It's official. Mike Nifong has been disbared. He'll never get another oppertunity to ruin peoples lives again. It's what everyone has wanted since the charges were dropped. The players still in school have been granted an extra year of eligibility. Coach Mike Pressler found a new job. Everyone's happy, right?
The players arrested; David Evans, Reade Seilgmann, and Collin Finnerty served jail time, and were kicked out of their school without charges being pressed against them. Their parents had to raise money in order to bail them out of jail. Evans has graduated, so he lost his last season of Athletics for his life. And for what? Nothing. Evans, and the other two lost friends, a sense of pride for their school, and comfort all because a wasted stripper thought she could have been raped, couldn't make up her mind, and then a Politician took advantage of the situation. Their reputation is forever scared. For as long as they live, they will have to admit to anyone they want to work for that they were arrested in college, and were a part of the Duke Lacrosse Case. Never again will their lives be normal. And yet, they did nothing worthy of this. They had underage drinking at a party, but that's not worth that. They'd probably have received a 1-2 game suspension. They, like so many of their peers hired a stripper for a party. They didn't even get what they wanted. The stripper who accused them was so wasted, she had to leave after a 5 minute show. The charges about the racial slurs? Here's what happened. One of the players comments about the strippers appearance as she's leaving. She responds by calling them a bunch of spoiled white boys. What did the player say? "Tell your grandfather thanks for my cotton shirt." I'd say that the two comments were equal. Should he be punished for this? Probably. Is it worth this? No.
And of course, Nyfong. He lost his job, and probably a shot at getting any other decent job for a long while. Probably for ever. Equal justice for the false charges he imposed on the young kids lives.
But someone still has yet to apologize. Someone has yet to receive any punishment. In fact, this someone is actually 89 people. 89 Faculty members at Duke. 88 professors and advisors, and 1 person who caused an almost equal amount of damage to the kids. The group's name? The group of 88. The Damage? See for yourself:
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Did these kids do anything to deserve this? No. Yet this group of professors decided to make their own judgement, and to take action against them. In fact, one of Evans professors failed him on a paper because of the scandal (Evans sued the professor, and the grade was changed to "pass"). These professors have been allowed to continue to teach at Duke. They continue to allow these people to be apart of the community without proper apologies, and without punishment. They deserve to be suspended, if not fired. After all, they did harass these kids, and they wanted the kids to be punished for their crimes. So why shouldn't they be punished?
It gets worse. The one person who was responsible for almost all of the damage to these kids. The one who uttered five words that changed the lives of the kids and their coach. "It's not about the truth". Those were the words told by University president Richard Broadhead told Pressler before informing him their season was over. Broadhead canceled their Lacrosse season without charges. Without evidence. The reason? He felt that he needed to show everyone he was making progress to help the disciplinary actions against the kids. He refused to accept the story his students told him, but instead believed the words he heard from the press. Broadhead later refused to let the coach into the meeting with the players where they would first proclaim their innocence to him. It was the first sign that his job was in jepoardy. He was later fired by the AD, who refused to admit that the President was the one who wanted it. There were no charges pressed, and the Stripper had yet to issue a statement. The police report had not been filed. Nothing had happened. Evans graduated, but his fellow teammates were not spared. They were suspended without due process.
Broadhead refused to accept the story of four people who said they were innocent. He refused to let the charges develop. He refused to try and add perspective and thought to the sides of the story. He simply caved to the pressure of the people. He never really apologized to the kids. His fake apology refused to apologize for the suspensions, Pressler's firing, or the cancelation of the season. In essence, he apologized for nothing. He refused to allow due process to take its course, but received no punishment.
Why is it that people are still ok with the suspensions of the season and of the kids despite their innocence, yet refuse to expect anything to happen to the staff or to the President. After all, aren't they the real criminals?
