All Charges Dropped Against Duke Lacrosse Players

After a year of controversy and media frenzy, the Duke Lacrosse rape case finally screeched to a halt today. There were many issues and twists surrounding this case, including racism, sexism, and unethical behavior by the prosecution. Yet, when all was said and done, the case ended as expected.

People all over were outraged…not because three white upper-class males had raped a lower-class black female. They were outraged because this black woman had the tenacity to accuse them of rape, thus snatching the silver spoon that had been implanted in these lacrosse players’ mouths at birth. How dare this black stripper accuse wealthy white men of misconduct. The alleged victim had originally accused Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and David Evans of rape. However, these charges were dropped in December “after she told prosecutors she could no longer testify that she had been penetrated with a penis, one of the defining factors of rape under North Carolina law” (CNN.com). Today, the remaining charges were dropped. The only case left to be tried is the one against Durham County district attorney Michael Nifong, who faces a number of ethics complaints.

After the dust settles, this case will be remembered as that of a poor, money grubbing stripper trying to rob three exemplary young men. These men were kicked off the lacrosse team. Two were asked to leave school, and the other surrendered himself the day after his graduation. How could someone be so horrible as to tarnish the lives of these three outstanding students? As the case was officially dismissed today, many expressed opinions of sympathy for these young men.

But wait…as it turned out, the evidence was inconsistent, leading to the dismissal of the case. Yet somehow, a case with insufficient evidence took over a year to dismiss. Even if this young woman made up everything she said, why do we feel so bad for these young men? They were on the brink of being kicked out of their housing already because of multiple misconduct complaints. Under these circumstances, they decided to have a stripper party. Maybe they didn’t rape the young woman. Maybe they didn’t touch her. But let’s not feel sorry for them because their perfect lives have been tarnished. Even if these men did nothing illegal, they certainly weren’t displaying good character or judgment