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uhnope

(6,419 posts)
Mon Sep 28, 2015, 09:49 PM Sep 2015

Did you watch 60 Minutes last night? the witch hunt of Duke lacrosse coach



I don't have the full episode but it was amazing. The coach was forced to resign even though he had zero to do with the rape allegations against three of his team players. He was vilified by all sorts of self-righteous freaks for no obvious reason--he was just the coach. Over a year later the allegations turned out to be false. And now the accuser herself is in prison for murder.

It's really screwed up.
8 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Did you watch 60 Minutes last night? the witch hunt of Duke lacrosse coach (Original Post) uhnope Sep 2015 OP
Here it is: cpwm17 Sep 2015 #1
The whole episode was an embarrassment for this country yeoman6987 Sep 2015 #2
The faculty and the media are to blame for the fiasco. virgogal Sep 2015 #3
there were plenty of self-righteous fake-leftist activists & "empowered" students to blame uhnope Sep 2015 #5
They reasonably believed the Prosecutor (Nifong) when he said he had evidence of rape. SunSeeker Sep 2015 #6
yes I did uhnope Sep 2015 #8
No, the true villain here is the Prosecutor, Michael Nifong. SunSeeker Sep 2015 #7
Not As Bad As He Makes It Out To Be erpowers Sep 2015 #4
 

yeoman6987

(14,449 posts)
2. The whole episode was an embarrassment for this country
Mon Sep 28, 2015, 10:24 PM
Sep 2015

Talk about jumping to conclusions before the facts. I hope this coach becomes a multi multi millionaire. I think he should not only sue the heck out of the school but write a book. Everyone should buy it even if they don't read it. Dark time in America.

 

uhnope

(6,419 posts)
5. there were plenty of self-righteous fake-leftist activists & "empowered" students to blame
Mon Sep 28, 2015, 11:45 PM
Sep 2015


a lot of them here:

SunSeeker

(51,690 posts)
6. They reasonably believed the Prosecutor (Nifong) when he said he had evidence of rape.
Tue Sep 29, 2015, 12:45 AM
Sep 2015

Turns out Nifong was just making shit up to get a conviction to boost his chances of getting elected Durham County DA. He was later disbarred, as noted in the 60 Minutes piece.

Based on what these protesters heard coming out of Nifong's office, their anger and protests were quite understandable.

Did you watch the whole episode?

 

uhnope

(6,419 posts)
8. yes I did
Tue Sep 29, 2015, 07:04 PM
Sep 2015

and I agree Nifong is responsible for the mess, even more so than the apparently lying accuser. But I don't think that absolves the people who hounded the coach

SunSeeker

(51,690 posts)
7. No, the true villain here is the Prosecutor, Michael Nifong.
Tue Sep 29, 2015, 12:55 AM
Sep 2015
http://www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/06/16/duke.lacrosse/

There should have never been charges brought. Nifong made shit up and buried exculpatory DNA evidence, all so he could get a conviction to boost his chances of being re-elected Durham County DA. If he had been a decent, honest prosecutor, this woman's allegations would have gone nowhere and nothing would have happened to these boys or their coach. Nifong was later disbarred, as well he should have been. Not only did he ruin a lot of lives, but he made it that much harder for real victims of sexual assault to come forward.

erpowers

(9,350 posts)
4. Not As Bad As He Makes It Out To Be
Mon Sep 28, 2015, 11:37 PM
Sep 2015

His career was not as damaged as he claims. He makes it seem like he struggled to get a job and his reputation was destroyed. However, he was only out of a job for five months. He was forced to resign from Duke in April 2006. In August 2006 he was hired by Bryant University. By 2007 schools were pretty much so begging him to come coach at their colleges. In the segment the President of Bryant University said a number of elite schools had in 2007 offered to pay Pressler three times what Bryant University was paying him.

I realize some will say Pressler should not have been fired in the first place. I get that, but although the rape allegations was probably the main reason Pressler was forced to resign I think there were some reports that he did not discipline his players and that his players were prone to misbehavior. It is possible that the reason so many were so willing to believe that these young men had raped the woman was the way they behaved before the allegations. It is possible that instead of the rape allegation being a first time issue it might have been the straw that broke the camels back.

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