The Herald-Sun in Durham has carried water for DA Mike Nifong since the Duke lacrosse case came to light. Today’s editorial is just another in a long list of efforts to buttress a faulty case. The editorial says the “players maintained an aura of sweet innocence” in their “60 Minutes” interviews Sunday night, and said the CBS magazine show attempted to portray the three indicted players as “choirboys.” Of course, they always include disclaimers to point to later to say how objective they were. Like this one: “However, we also understand that drinking beer and acting wild does not make someone a rapist.” Thanks for that.
They end the ediorial with this:
We’re puzzled that so many people think Nifong should ignore the indictments, ignore the accuser, and walk away. Does Durham really want a prosecutor who won’t stand up for an alleged victim, even if she ranks near the bottom of society? Do we really want a prosecutor who is cowed by pressure — and this is enormous pressure — into dropping charges he believes should be pursued?
Here are the questions they should have asked: Does Durham really want a prosecutor who won’t drop a case after it is clear that there is no evidence whatsover to back up the allegations against the accused? Do we really want a prosecutor who will ignore evidence of innocence and take the word of a woman just because she is near the bottom of society? Do we really want a prosecutor who uses the inherent racial tension in a case to try to win an election?
The Herald-Sun points out that the pressure against Nifong is enormous. Well, that’s what usually is brought to bear when most of the world (except for Nifong and the editors of The Herald-Sun) sees an injustice being committed for political gain. There was a time when a local newspaper would see the obvious railroading of defendants (the rigged line-up, the mischaracterization of the players’ level of cooperation, the DA’s comments that later proved untrue, to name just a few) and put their shoulder to the wheel to defend due process. There was a time when The Herald-Sun itself would have done that. But not any more.
