Mike Nifong has actually been given justice. His vicious prosecution without evidence has not only been stopped, but he has been removed from office and has been banned from practicing law.
The media (and the bar) have been playing this as if it restores justice into an otherwise pristine system. They want you to believe that Mike Nifong was some rogue, and that prosecutions for political reasons and with little or no evidence rarey ever happen.
Nothing could be further from the truth. The Duke players where able to defend themselves at great cost, financially and personally. Thousands of others do not have such resources at their disposal. Plea bargains are used ruthlessly, and many plead guilty to crimes they did not commit simply because they are afraid of going to jail because they cannot defend themselves well.
In the Nifong debacle, he was apparently motivated by appealing to minorities and women. But the much more common politicial motiviation is to appear "tough on crime". For that reason prosecutors are interested in convictions, not justice. Their victims are not well heeled rich white college students, but very often poor, minority and sometimes barely literate people who they can bully without reprisals.
Do not let this case decieve you: There are many problems with what passes for justice in this country, and prosecutors are very often motivated by self interest, not justice.
Nifon should just be the beginning. There are so many out of control prosecutors out there and not enough public outcry. APATHY is death to a democracy.
Frankly, our justice system is not about innocence or guilt. It is about money. What was that about gold and rules?
I am not shocked by his behavior--I AM shocked that anything was done about his behavior.
Posted by: Alice Dominguez | July 18, 2007 at 08:32 PM