Tuesday, June 12, 2007

The Long Arm of the law

1. Down goes Nifong? The notorious Duke Lacrosse prosecutor is now appearing before a disciplinary commission facing possible disbarment. I was living in Durham during the year of the Nifong and in my view, this guy deserves to catch it really really hard. K C Johnson has much more.

2. Some said it was murder, but it was sewer-cide. Now the Jamaican police are saying that Pakistani cricket coach Bob Woolmer, found dead in his hotel in a pile of vomit and poop and blood, wasn't murdered after all but died instead of "natural causes". I'll say this: if that's true I hope I do NOT die of natural causes.

3. "Who Romeo? Yeah I used to have a thing with him?" A Judge in Atlanta ordered Genarlo Wilson released with 8 years to go on his mandatory minimum 10 year sentence for having "consensual" oral sex with a 15 year old girl (when he himself was 17). The judge also ruled that Wilson would not have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. The state Attorney General says the judge has overstepped his bounds, and plans to appeal the decision; meanwhile he's keeping Genarlo in jail. I'm conflicted on this one people. The state legislature has since amended the law under which Wilson was convicted to make his act a misdemeanor so maybe he should get out. On the other hand, Jimmy Carter has been lobbying for Wilson's release, so he should probably stay in!

4.What's in a name? Ron Goldman's family is suing to take over the rights to OJ's "If I did it", rename it "Confessions of a Double Murderer" and sell the book to help collect part of the $33.5 million judgement they won against OJ. Perhaps not surprisingly, OJ and his family are not cooperating.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Must have been scary, and depressing - to be in Durham, and at Duke, while that happened.

I remember reading some sort of public letter produced by some Duke Faculty back then - who seemed to rush to judgement essentially granting that the LAX players had raped the alleged victim. Did they every apologize to the students?

Angus said...

Ah yes the "group of 88". You can see their statement here:

http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/2862/372/1600/99636/Listening_Statement_b.jpg

you can see who is in the group here:

http://listening.nfshost.com/supporters.pdf


and AFAIK, no apology or retraction has been forthcoming.

Anonymous said...

Telling indeed. Even Nifong has apologized to the players, to their families, to the community.

And yet the Group of 88 remains mum on the matter.

At times silence can speak volumes about one's moral fiber though.

Anonymous said...

"At times silence can speak volumes about one's moral fiber though."

Or the lack thereof.