Guilty until proven innocent
As anyone who has not been living under a rock for the last two months knows there is a great clamor on and around the Duke Campus. This all arises from the alleged rape of an exotic dancer by three members of the Duke Lacrosse team and has been well publicized and drawn out in pulbic and the media already so I figured I'd join the fray.
To begin with dont get me wrong, rape is a terrible crime and if it is proven that these three players(2 indicted) actually did commit the crime then they should be punished to the full extent of the the law. It is my belief that rape is only a laughing matter if you are raping a clown(hahaha innapropriate joke). There are many things to look at in this case and I for one will give the players the beneif tof the doubt, remember that our system is set up so that you are innocnet until proven guilty which isnt how this has played out.
From day one these players have been vilified in the press, in the community and on campus. It seems as if no one even stopped to consider that they may not have commited the crime they are accused of. There is substantial evidence from what the public knows to cast doubt on the story. The first evidence is the lack of DNA evidence, bear in mind this doenst mean lack of evidence at all and in may rape cases there is no DNA present. I find it hard to belive however that three college athletes presumably drunk would have the foresight to take measures to not leave DNA evidence. Secondly there are the time dated photos of the accuser(victim) which show her to be in less than a sober state before the incident occured and also to already have injuires (bruises scrapes etc.) there is a great chance that a drunk person can fall down and hurt themselves no? Not only could the injuries have occured before the alleged assault but also could have occured after she left the house in a drunken state, again drunks fall down, I've seen it, I've done it. There is also the accusers criminal history. She is not a woman with a squeeky clean rep and the industry she works in is not necessarily known for its high charecter. It has even been put forth that these allegations were leveled to avoid a drunk charge which does seem outlandish.
My last complaint and something to think about is the ideas thrown about by the Duke campus. They have called for the expulsion of the entire team which is completely rash and illogical. Again we go back until the innocent until proven guilty and it appears in this case even if someone is found guilty it wont be the whole team, thats for damn sure. Though it would be a black eye to the program you cannot tell me that the same types of parties do not go on in frat houses across the nation. Simply because they are athletes does not mean they shoudl be punished differntly. The idea of the priveliged athlete is a myth. Athletes at any school at any level are held to a higher standard and this is fair as they reperesent something larger than jsut a team. But to say that because of that the whole team should be punished more than it already has is ludicrous. This has cost reputations across the board no matter what the outcome it has cost Duke a black eye and has cost the lacrosse coach his job fair or not this is how it has shaken down.
The whole situation needs to be allowed to run its course in courts, not in the court of public opinion, the same way any high profile rape trial deserves the same(i.e. Kobe Bryant). There are much more important things occuring in this country that deserve the media attention, shit the levees in New Orleans arent fixed and hurricane season is fast approaching, Bush and Iran both appear set for confrontation which will not be good, oil prices are on the rise as is gas and we want to focus on this case. Pull yoru head out of your ass ameirca, pay attention to the real problem. I know it doenst seem as if I followed my own advice but I just wanted to be one of the few who took a stand to give another side of this case.
To begin with dont get me wrong, rape is a terrible crime and if it is proven that these three players(2 indicted) actually did commit the crime then they should be punished to the full extent of the the law. It is my belief that rape is only a laughing matter if you are raping a clown(hahaha innapropriate joke). There are many things to look at in this case and I for one will give the players the beneif tof the doubt, remember that our system is set up so that you are innocnet until proven guilty which isnt how this has played out.
From day one these players have been vilified in the press, in the community and on campus. It seems as if no one even stopped to consider that they may not have commited the crime they are accused of. There is substantial evidence from what the public knows to cast doubt on the story. The first evidence is the lack of DNA evidence, bear in mind this doenst mean lack of evidence at all and in may rape cases there is no DNA present. I find it hard to belive however that three college athletes presumably drunk would have the foresight to take measures to not leave DNA evidence. Secondly there are the time dated photos of the accuser(victim) which show her to be in less than a sober state before the incident occured and also to already have injuires (bruises scrapes etc.) there is a great chance that a drunk person can fall down and hurt themselves no? Not only could the injuries have occured before the alleged assault but also could have occured after she left the house in a drunken state, again drunks fall down, I've seen it, I've done it. There is also the accusers criminal history. She is not a woman with a squeeky clean rep and the industry she works in is not necessarily known for its high charecter. It has even been put forth that these allegations were leveled to avoid a drunk charge which does seem outlandish.
My last complaint and something to think about is the ideas thrown about by the Duke campus. They have called for the expulsion of the entire team which is completely rash and illogical. Again we go back until the innocent until proven guilty and it appears in this case even if someone is found guilty it wont be the whole team, thats for damn sure. Though it would be a black eye to the program you cannot tell me that the same types of parties do not go on in frat houses across the nation. Simply because they are athletes does not mean they shoudl be punished differntly. The idea of the priveliged athlete is a myth. Athletes at any school at any level are held to a higher standard and this is fair as they reperesent something larger than jsut a team. But to say that because of that the whole team should be punished more than it already has is ludicrous. This has cost reputations across the board no matter what the outcome it has cost Duke a black eye and has cost the lacrosse coach his job fair or not this is how it has shaken down.
The whole situation needs to be allowed to run its course in courts, not in the court of public opinion, the same way any high profile rape trial deserves the same(i.e. Kobe Bryant). There are much more important things occuring in this country that deserve the media attention, shit the levees in New Orleans arent fixed and hurricane season is fast approaching, Bush and Iran both appear set for confrontation which will not be good, oil prices are on the rise as is gas and we want to focus on this case. Pull yoru head out of your ass ameirca, pay attention to the real problem. I know it doenst seem as if I followed my own advice but I just wanted to be one of the few who took a stand to give another side of this case.
posted by the meathaus at 10:39 AM
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