Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Duke Student exposes Duke's Double Standard

Congratulations needs to go to Duke Students for an Ethical Duke President Ken Larrey. It was his work that brought the Duke Sex Worker's "Art" Show to the attention of the national news. It is used as an example in the civil complaint to point out the double standard that was applied to the 2006 Lacrosse Team by a Hypocritical Duke Administration.

236. At the March 25 meeting, as Burness later acknowledged, the assembled officials decided that they "needed to send a signal that [they] took seriously what happened in the house." (Emphasis added.) Many of these administrators had been aware of the allegations for many days; this newfound "need[] to send a signal" had only arisen in light of the recent torrent of negative publicity. The truth or falsity of the allegations was immaterial to this decision. Brodhead and his top advisors decided to cancel the next two lacrosse games. Later that day, 90 minutes before the Georgetown game was to begin, and after the Georgetown team was fully suited up and ready to play, Athletic Director Joe Alleva notified Coach Pressler of Brodhead's decision to cancel the next two games as punishment for the underage drinking at the party (which the players had admitted). Alleva assured Coach Pressler and the team (falsely, as it turned out) that there would be no further punishment of the lacrosse team unless criminal charges were brought.

237. Duke claimed that the punishment was not for the rape allegations, but rather was for the underage drinking and hiring exotic dancers at the March 13 party, which the administrators falsely characterized as a "a team-sanctioned event." The reasons given for this punishment were plainly pretextual. In fact, as the Duke officials knew, the March 13 party was not a "team-sanctioned event," and underage drinking and the hiring of exotic dancers were common features of student parties at Duke and at colleges throughout the country. Other Duke athletic teams, including the men's basketball and baseball teams, had engaged in off-campus underage drinking and had hired exotic dancers at their parties, without similar punishment. In fact, at least 20 other Duke athletic teams, fraternities, and sororities had held such parties, with exotic dancers, during the 2005-2006 school year alone. Moreover, Duke officials had been aware, long before the day of the Georgetown game, that underage drinking and exotic dancing had occurred at the party, yet they awaited until the last minute (after the Georgetown team had traveled to Durham and was actually suited up to play) before canceling the game.

238. The purpose and effect of the punishment of the lacrosse team was to distance and insulate Duke and its administrators from the controversy and its negative publicity by sending a public signal that Duke sympathized with the accuser, credited the rape allegations, and condemned the lacrosse players.


239. Duke recently provided a vivid illustration of the double standard that Duke applied to the lacrosse team and its coach when a group of University organizations and programs sponsored, with University approval and funds, an event on campus called the "Sex Workers Art Show." The performance occurred at the Reynolds Theater in February 2008 and featured semi-nude "sex workers" in a series of vignettes, including a dominatrix who simulated masturbation while whipping a dog collar-clad "slave" kneeling beside her, an exotic dancer extracting a string of dollar bills from her rectum, a transvestite displaying an "anal sparkler show" from his rectum, and similar vulgar perversions. Duke Lawsuit

LieStopper's wants to warn about Double Secret Probation for Duke students who expose Duke's little secrets.

See video tape of the "Art" performance that Duke VP Moneta called educational.

31 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not underaged dwinking! I get it now. Duke's conduct is completely and totally justified.

Nah, they're still a bunch of commie rat bastards.

Anonymous said...

By Duke's definition of "Art" a great deal of the "Jackass" movies would qualify as art.

....I wonder if the Duke humanities department has been stealing Johnny Knoxville's material? Perhaps they should offer him a fellowship!

Anonymous said...

Let's face sooner or later the BOT needs to dump Brodhead, Burness, & Moneta and just settle these lawsuits.

Time for a real apology and for Duke to co-operate with the Plantiff attorneys. Rumours are that some Duke employees already have. It will only get worse as long at the BOT believes the excuses that staff have given them.

Anonymous said...

In today's Chronicle, Kelly Akhiemokhali wrote an editorial which belittled the 38 Duke Lacrosse (2006)students. (See http://media.www.dukechronicle.com/media/storage/paper884/news/2008/02/27/Columns/I.Too.Will.Sue-3237713.shtml )
What I find most startling about this piece is that the author should know better as she has "conducted research analyzing how educational systems can engender trauma." (See http://baldwinscholars.duke.edu/about_us/kelley_akhiemokhali.html )

In my opinion the law suit in question is a classic example of "how educational systems can engender trauma"

Anonymous said...

They can engender drama as well as trauma.

Anonymous said...

You might want to read the comments. These guys are not getting the rah rah they have grown are accustomed to from bloggers. If people at Duke are so critical of the lawsuits, imagine what a jury will think. The Latte comments are funny. As are the comments on Us Verus Them.

Anonymous said...

Between stunning, startled and amazing, many bloggers must have lived naive lives.

Anonymous said...

To contact me directly, please send SERIOUS media and legal inquiries to:

justice4all2005@yahoo.com

Rhonda Fleming
Cleveland, Ohio
Sister of Allen Jackson Croft Jr, murdered in Durham on May 11, 2005 fighting for JUSTICE!

Anonymous said...

What would really be funny would be watching the marathon of yoga positions as the lie supporters struggle to remove their heads from their asses.

Anonymous said...

"If people at Duke are so critical of the lawsuits, imagine what a jury will think."

If the people who are being sued are so critical of the lawsuits, imagine what the jury will think? Maybe that you're an idiot who needs to fork over some money?

Anonymous said...

I already donated money when I contributed to both the Defense Fund and the Beat Nifong fund. I was writing about the Duke students commenting on the blog. Ah yes, idiot, moron and stupid - the language of the group think. That does not advance the debate.

Anonymous said...

Ooops - correct that to group non think.

Anonymous said...

What debate? There are two positions to take here: support lying about rape or support punishing those who lie about rape. There's no compromise to be made here.

Crystal Mangum wasn't interested in debating the ethics of her behavior-- not even with herself. She just wanted all the attention and money she could possibly get. Nor was Nifong interested in subjected his irrational beliefs about the case to scrutiny. He was right because he was infallible, end of story.

The potbangers weren't into debating, either. They just knew in their moist little hearts that the boys were guilty. It was not an issue. It was fact, just like the law of gravity is a fact.

Catching on? This is not a debate.

This is war.

Anonymous said...

Got it - are any of you Lax water carriers surprised at the response the lawsuits are receiving from the general public?

Anonymous said...

Bloggers are not "the general public." Many of the hostile bloggers you are referring to are feminazis who would have loved for the hoax to succeed.

Anonymous said...

10:42- Jealous much?

Anonymous said...

In the words of John Burness "For What"?

Anonymous said...

Okay, the comments officially make no sense now. The gist of it is that some people don't want the boys to get justice, right?

Anonymous said...

1:08: Do you even know what group think is? Try reading the Wikipedia entry.

I do not think it means what you think it means.

Anonymous said...

Just wait until discovery. There is so much that is not out in the public yet. Duke, Duke 88, Duke Hospital, Levicy, Nifong, DPD, Durham politicians who were involved, Crystal....the list goes on. The truth will be out on exactly what went on in the background and in all those secret meetings. It will be spelled out very cleary the intent and with absolute purpose and with absolute knowledge these people knew the innocecne of these 3 young men yet continued to build a frame for their various agendas. Not even the NY Times will be able to twist the discovery facts. Hold on for discovery because if you were sickened to the core by what you already know....your faith in humanity surely will be tested. It is unimaginable what transpired, yet the proof is there and is unquestionable. Durham was so stupid and arrogant to not settle and do what they do so well and that is to sweep it under the rug. They seriously miscalculated these young men, their families and their attorney's drive to see justice done. The will legally tear them apart with precision and such clarity leaving no doubt forever what transpired. Nifong, Duke and co-conspirators will be left open and exposed for what they really are. Then judgment day will here for each and every one of them and justice will be served. KC will have alot to write about. Many surprises are in store.

Anonymous said...

Just reread the Neff article at LS - Neff descriabes an interview that Wade Smith, Butch Williams and Bill Thomas had with Nifong. Smith says that "Nifong was going forward with the case and NOTHING was stopping him". Puts to rest the numerous "Levicy, Gottlieb, et fueled the case - could have stopped had they shouted from the roof tops." As Gottlieb notified his superiors of Nifong's actions and directives, I think he is off the hook. It was all Nifong - all the way. Duke Admin behaved badly and have paid millions to the three defendents for that error. The other two lawsuits will be dismissed due to lack of merit, but not before most of these guys get smeared because of their drinking and wee-weeing habits.

Anonymous said...

11:57 you protest in such a sad, weak way. You almost sound scared. Discovery can be brutal.

Anonymous said...

12:01 I am as anxious for discover as anybody. What is your response to the Neff article where Wade Smith himself states "Nothing was stopping Nifong"? That is a lot more interesting than your "take" on my response. See, you all can not reply to the truth - just insults to the poster. What is to be scared of - it is not like these folk planned 9/11. I do not care about Duke or Durham.

Anonymous said...

But they have a lot in common with those who planned 9/11.

Anonymous said...

Delusional.

Anonymous said...

Precisely.

Anonymous said...

Meaning both the perpetrators of 9/11 and the hoax enablers are delusional. Both groups still think that they're the good guys.

That's what lawsuits are for.

Anonymous said...

No - lawsuts are to right a perceived wrong - is you can persuade a Judge or jury. That ain't happening in this case. This pip squeak event is nothing compared to 9/11 - It is delusional to think they are the same. That is why people are disgusted with the lax team and supporters. Wade Smith says "Nifong would not be deterred" - how do hoax perpetrators come into the event?

Anonymous said...

People are not disgusted by the lawsuits. You are disgusted because you are a lie supporting piece of shit.

Nor was this a minor event. This was one of the most important cases in recent memory, and is symptomatic of the widespread decay of the US criminal justice system.

Anonymous said...

My name is Rhonda Fleming, and I am writing this letter and posting it on every news and blog site possible, to seek recognition, aid, and to educate the masses to the unfathomable abuses and crimes that are allowed to be continued without ANY help from our government concerning the murder of my brother in Durham, North Carolina in 2005, and many other crimes involving a very long list of injustices committed by Law Enforcement, and not just in the Carolina's.
The media and world have focused too much attention to this one case, as countless other cases have been completely left at the wayside! During the three years I have spent gathering evidence that they have completely ignored, have made numerous official requests and complaints to countless officials in NC, and Washington DC, all to no avail.
The focus is on one case by a city that is totally corrupt, yet the Department Of Justice, Administrative Office Of The Courts, Congress and many other official legislative, and judicial branches sits idly by, watches and does nothing!
The lawsuit made by the Duke LAX team will shed a bit of light onto the deliberate attempt and conspiracy of many, to care less about the lives, laws, and rights of citizens, and instead use them and us as political pawns on their nefarious road to perdition.
What is the big shock here? The families have every right to sue the city for negligence of an entire political system that failed miserably! This is by far NOT the biggest case to be media worthy, but one that has brought to the light of day a sample of what people in power do every single day and nobody even knows or cares!
Well, I am here to tell the WORLD and every entity watching, that As God is my witness I will not go to my grave without speaking out about the same system that has not only covered over my beloved brother's murder, but have mocked us, threatened us, and continue to deny us the right to know not just how my brother died, but everything that was done and NOT done!
I have contacted EVERY person their is imaginable, excluding the President, and still have been denied not just documents, but the right of a family to know how their loved one met their death, and to know what was done, and not done to his body!
We have been lied to and threatened by the Durham Sheriff's Department, have been shuffled through 3 years and 3 District Attorneys, countless complaints filed to numerous governmental agencies, even our own Congressman Dennis Kucinich, and STILL NOTHING!
We have sent our documents that we have been able to glean from the system to Mr. Ekstrand, but due to his obligation to the LAX team is unable to represent us but would if he could. I have sent him, the FBI, and several others copies of the BLUE blood coming from an entrance wound, none from 2 exits wounds, a inconclusive and actually negative GSR screen, proof of fraud and collaborative deception, and have been to hell and back in this maddening chase to expose this city and system for allowing crimes against humanity to go unannounced, while innocent people suffer from the hands of the very powers who took oaths before God and man to protect and serve!
So, here my family and I are coming forward to beg the media to help us to solve my brother's death, and expose a system of debauchery and evils that not only baffle the mind, but leaves you breathless and speechless! I have tried and done all that I can alone, and now have 2 months before the state can be held liable for not just one mans death, but expose a system that feeds off the helpless, then leaves them for dead!
So, I will say the purpose of this letter now is to also gain attention to the enumerable failures within the system, to right a countless injustice done to a plethora of lives that have been left completely devastated, and to make our government be held responsible and accountable for FAILING us the citizens, and the dead who have no voice but scream beyond their graves! The truth is worse than a nightmare because it is REAL and more HORRIFIC than you could ever
have imagined!
Never could I have guessed such wickedness by not just individuals, but extremely organized and calculated, and failed by the very country and leaders we so blindly put our hopes and faith into! My heart bleeds for the truth, and mourns those who have been so wickedly tortured! My brother and countless others did NOT die in vain, and I will be damned if I will let fear keep me from Justice For Jack, but JUSTICE For ALL!
Imagine instead, your child or loved one MURDERED, and not only does it take Law Enforcement over a YEAR to send ONE single report, they LIE to you from the beginning, and not only REFUSE to do any investigating, but fail to adhere to ANY role of conduct and protocol, then threaten you and LAUGH at you?!
Yes, I have the utmost sympathy for the team, but let us not forget just how many OTHER cases have been corrupted by the exact same system! WHAT has been done to answer and solve the murders of my brother, Janet Araboa, and Michelle Young?! What voices have they now they are dead?!
Where is the outrage, and public and media attention for our families?!
Nifong is by far the only knave on the long list of miscreant marauders who care nothing about rights of citizens, and care only for what is in "their" best interest! Wake up people and ask why the Department of Justice has not intervened, and why do our nations leaders just watch and do nothing about an abjectly corrupt and politically ran city?!
I never would have imagined what I now know, and am sick that nobody has taken our pleas, and heard our cries! Our loved ones not just dead, but murdered, and we will never see them hear them, or feel their touch ever again! Unfair?! Unjust?! Impossible?! The cesspool of corruption flows deep into a murky quagmire of wickedness that should expose our own government for allowing it to continue!
True and REAL crimes against humanity ranging from organized crime and drugs, to kidnapping, slavery, prostitution, and murders for global sale of body parts! Google human trafficking in organs, and learn exactly what is going on behind closed doors "the powers that be" never want to see opened! The reality is not only horrific and unimaginable, it IS happening every single day across the world, and Durham is just one of the many links in this chain of the grisly, dark underworld!
I have fought for nearly 3 years to restore my beloved brother, and best friend's respect, and JUSTICE he, and all of the others desperately deserve, and will never quit until something is done and things are changed! NOBODY deserves what mine and countless other families have endured, and for us I am begging the people and media to make a difference and care about all of the other serious matters that have fallen to the wayside for needless years!
Where IS the SBI report on my brother? Where is the details of what was done to his body and organs after he was killed? What was done to investigate his death? What was done to provide the family with documents and reports we should not just have public access to, but to every iota of information, as they closed his death as a "suicide" yet did no autopsy and lied they did?
What was done to my brother is so horrifically twisted and unreal that the city has gone out of it's way to not only deny him an investigation, but to hide facts, alter reports, and fail to adhere to any semblance of protocol?!
Where is the OUTRAGE for our family and others of unsolved and purposely neglected murders, just from 2005?!
Does anybody out here give a damn for us?!
Something MUST be done, and I have come forward to beg the media and government to hear what I have to say about my brother's case, and the crimes being done to many innocent victims that MUST be acknowledged, reported, investigated, and DESERVE action and resolution!
To contact me directly, please send SERIOUS media and legal inquiries to:
justice4all2005@yahoo.com
Rhonda Fleming
Cleveland, Ohio
Sister of Allen Jackson Croft Jr, murdered in Durham on May 11, 2005 fighting for JUSTICE
For legal reference please refer to Mr. Ekstrand for personal contact:
Robert C. Ekstrand
Firm: Ekstrand & Ekstrand
Address: 811 Ninth Street, Suite 260
Durham, NC 27705
Phone: (919) 416-4590
Fax: (919) 416-4591

Anonymous said...

http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-931447.cfm

Jail suicide prompts no policy changes
BY BRIANNE DOPART : The Herald-Sun
bdopart@heraldsun.com
Mar 8, 2008

DURHAM -- Despite claims by inmates that a Durham County Jail prisoner spoke openly of suicidal tendencies and a discovery of suicide notes, officials say they received no such indications before the 27-year-old man ended his life.

And there are no plans for policy or structural changes at the jail, where fellow inmates found assault suspect Brian Lashand Rollins hanging from part of a window frame in his cell about 4 p.m. on Feb. 9. That was about 30 minutes after he'd last been seen alive, according to the report of his autopsy.

Days after the hanging death of Rollins, county leaders told The Herald-Sun they'd await the outcome of the Sheriff's Office investigation to determine if additional safety precautions were needed to ensure the jail was a safe place for its inmates.

According to Deputy County Manager Carolyn Titus, it is routine procedure for the Sheriff's Office to investigate a jailhouse death, ensure no foul play was involved and then recommend any adjustments that need to be made to the facility.

Titus said that the Sheriff's Office made no such recommendations and expressed confidence in the safety of inmates housed at the jail.

Rollins, a father of eight, was without a pulse when he was discovered. He was taken to Duke University Hospital, where he was declared brain dead the next morning and died a short time later.

He was found hanging from a window frame in his cell. But the Sheriff's Office says there is no need to adjust cells by removing items from which an inmate could be hanged. Sheriff's Office Investigator Tom Mellown, who investigated the case, said suicidal individuals can hang themselves from anything, so long as they can apply enough pressure to the neck to block the passage of air.

Yet in the past, the Sheriff's Office has requested money from the county to rid cells of vents based on the argument that the vents present a safety threat and an opportunity for hanging. Mellown, who as investigator has no part in budgeting, could not comment on those past requests, he said.

Mellown's criminal investigation into Rollins' death determined there was no foul play. From conversations with guards, jail employees and four or five inmates, Mellown determined there were no indications that the 27-year-old inmate was suicidal, he said.

One inmate did tell the investigator that Rollins never responded to him when he tried to chat with him from an adjacent cell. Another inmate told the investigator Rollins talked to him about wanting to end his life. But according to Mellown, the inmate said he never told any jail guards or officials of Rollins' intentions.

One inmate who was in the jail at the same time as Rollins told The Herald-Sun that, contrary to the Sheriff's Office's investigation, the troubled inmate told anyone who would listen that he wanted to end his life. But the guards, he claimed, were either too busy or didn't care and ignored Rollins' repeated pleas for help.

Rollins was distraught, the source said, over relationship issues involving a woman. Rollins was being held in the jail on a charge of assault on a female. His bond was $50,000. It was unclear whether the assault victim was the same woman with whom he was romantically involved.

According to the Sheriff's Office, no red flags arose during a 10-question psychological assessment that Rollins, like all inmates entering the jail, was subject to when he arrived at the facility Feb. 6.

Jail procedure calls for inmates to be administered the test only upon arrival, regardless of how long they are to be held in the jail. But if an inmate reaches out for help or if jail employees notice an inmate acting in a way that demonstrates his or her psychological state has changed, they will be referred for reassessment.

Rollins was not referred for any such assessment.

THIS is the SAME man who "INVESTIGATED" my brother's death, and you all still think HE and LE are to be trusted at all?!?!

AND, again, NO autopsy was done for my brother, AND we were LIED to and told one was done, plus threatened!!!!!

For the love of God people, DO SOMETHING!!!!

Rhonda Fleming
Durham SURVIVOR