Latest news on DUKE Lacrosse team and NC Central Student

[favor24]

I saw this posted in another thread:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,191232,00.html

my question is why does the first sentence have to read basically Lacrosse team vs. Stripper.  You don't even know that the woman is a college student until later on in the article. 

[redemption]

It's a question of framing the narrative. How she is identified makes a difference to how she - and, therefore, the story - is understood. Both "stripper" and "college student" are value-laden, as well as factual, descriptors.

There are no facts; there are only narratives.

[redemption]

Maybe. You don't believe that it matters how a story is told, but you also do believe that it matters - as long as it's told the right way, in the way that you believe the facts are best arranged and prioritized.

Fair enough.

[mccapj2]

Was she at the party studying for class?  No.

[jnc18]

Here's a question I'm wrestling with myself:

Do you hope she IS lying, that these young men are wrongfully accused and she's just a crazy b*tch who made this all up out of bitterness and desperation, possibly damaging the future credibility of real victims of violent sexual and racially-motivated crimes....

or

Do you hope that they are guilty and she really is the victim of this brutal crime, serving as an explosive illustration of the sex/race/class/wealth/entitlement issues that are very much still prevalent in society?

[LAcreole]

Do you hope she IS lying, that these young men are wrongfully accused and she's just a crazy b*tch who made this all up out of bitterness and desperation, possibly damaging the future credibility of real victims of violent sexual and racially-motivated crimes....

or

Do you hope that they are guilty and she really is the victim of this brutal crime, serving as an explosive illustration of the sex/race/class/wealth/entitlement issues that are very much still prevalent in society?


Well the answer I think to both of these questions is, either way it would be messed up on both out comes. If she did indeed lie, she is a sad soul, that like many others make those who were truly in this type of situation looked upon as just the girl crying wolf. But, if she isn't lying and they did do it and these young men come from a wealthy background and family has connection more than likely they'll get a slap on the wrist. So either way its messed up

[jnc18]

So either way its messed up.

Well, that's obvious.    It's a horrible story either way.  That is why it could be considered a difficult question....

[LAcreole]

 That is why it could be considered a difficult question


uh huh very much so.

[TrojanChispas]

Everyone is missing the crux of the problem/misunderstanding: Inequity (actual or conceived). Consider the same situation but reverse the races and many people think that the boys would have been arrested and interrogated.  Instead, the DA obtained a search warrant based on probable cause that evidence of a crime was there.  So it seems that the DA is giving lenient treatment to the boys. 

If the police had PC to obtain a search warrant, why didnt they get one for arrest too? My best guess, they didnt think they had PC for an arrest because the victim could not identify anyone.


At this point, it seems without the DNA, the CA cannot meet the burden of beyond a reasonable doubt.  Her claim is that essentially 24 guys conspired to let 3 other guys rape a person.  That is an unplausible claim in itself, but add to that they did not leave a shred of forensic evidence, not so much as a white pubic hair, and you have reasonable doubt.

[mivida2k]

Trojan I agree with your first paragraph.

What I find interesting is how the media is treating this female compared to the former Kobe accuser.  The media still goes out of their way to protect that girl.  They did not want to discuss how she was a drug and sex addict amongst other things, while they keep harping on the Duke accuser's being a stripper and past criminal history.  There is a double standard.

If the accuser was a "white" girl, particularly if she had blonde hair, and the accused were African-American, those boys would have been arrested already.