Justifiable Outrage

Durham, NC (TLS). Despite the excellent news that all charges against the three Duke lacrosse students falsely accused are being dropped, including a strongly-worded proclamation of innocence by the North Carolina Attorney-General, there is no celebrating in Durham on the part of the lives disrupted and nearly ruined by the fiasco.

Instead there is outrage. And this outrage is justifiable.

Three innocent young men--David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann--were dragged through the absolute worst nightmare of their lives by being accused of crimes they did not commit, thus robbing them of a full year of student life, normal activity, and the pursuit of future professional employment. Their good names and reputations were not only sullied but dragged through the mud as an entire community it seemed united behind proclaiming them guilty.

And this was not even a case of guilty until proven innocent, as tyrannical as that is. They were proclaimed guilty, and in the minds of many there was no use in even having a trial at all. The court of public opinion had already issued its verdict--guilty no matter what the evidence or the facts say.

Certain special interest groups with a very well-known agenda came together with local personalities and entities as co-conspirators in this miscarriage of justice--Mike Nifong and the Durham D.A.'s office, the Durham Police Department, the Durham criminal justice system, the Durham Democratic Party, Duke University, the infamous 'group of 88' faculty members of Duke, the NAACP, the North Carolina Democratic Party, and certain members of the press and certain websites devoted to stirring up the pot bangers.

All of them now have egg all over their faces, in spite of their frantic attempts to appear delighted that the three students were proclaimed innocent.

Some of the co-conspirators, however, are still spouting their hateful venom. At least they are consistent if not very smart.

The fact that this entire affair has now been shown to be a hoax from top to bottom is a chilling microcosm of the state of the criminal justice system in America today. As devastating as this has been for the three young men and their families, who have suffered unfathomable emotional and financial loss, think of what would have happened had the three students come from families of meager means. They would have been totally overwhelmed and swallowed up by a system engaged in a legal equivalent of the story of David and Goliath, except in this case Goliath would have smashed David with his foot.

Had the accused been from a poor or lower-middle-class background, the massive machine of the North Carolina justice system would have engulfed them whole.

This is precisely why those who were adversely impacted by this hoax must take action--not only for themselves but on behalf of those who may not have fared so well had they been accused.

The State of North Carolina, as Mike Nifong's employer, is a co-defendant in this case. Nifong represented the state. His actions carried the weight of the state of North Carolina into any case he decided to prosecute. The same goes for Durham County. Government entities that are implicated in this hoax by the mere fact that Nifong acted in their name should bear some of the responsibility for this shameful display.

Thus, the outrage of the friends and family of the three students should be channeled into legal action. Each government entity involved in this case should be sued. The former accused students and their families are owed a massive bounty from the state of North Carolina and Durham...at least a million bucks a piece to each of the falsely accused.

Criminal charges should be brought against Mike Nifong and some within the Durham Police Department for perpetrating a heinous crime--that of falsely accusing and framing innocent people for crimes they did not commit. The criminal charges should be followed by civil suits.

The only way we are going to prevent this kind of horror from happening again and again is to make the penalty so severe that corrupt government officials will think twice before engaging in such charades.

In fact, the Duke lacrosse rape hoax is a perfect example of government run amok, of unfettered government power and the very real danger it poses to innocent citizens.

This is a golden opportunity to beat back the creeping crawl of government power and to win a big one for the rights of individual citizens. But in this case, it won't be Goliath who wins. 'Little David' will be the one who sends a stone hurling into the monster of big government, right between the eyes.

Such a moment is long overdue.