Mike Stark: Double Standards of North Carolina "Justice"

Nifong's public repudiation had nothing to do with concern for due process, the rights of the accused or constitutional liberties"which are routinely flouted by a whole slew of characters in North Carolina (and everywhere else in the U.S.), from street cops to corportate lobbyists to good-old boy politicians.

Nifong crossed the line when he used prosecutorial practices routinely used against ordinary working people to target the powerful and privileged. More damning still, Nifong's efforts (whatever his intentions) exposed the rot at the heart of the elite (and ostensibly liberal) Duke University.

Nifong is no hero. It's clear that he botched the investigation into charges by an African American woman that she was raped by Duke lacrosse players at a team "party" in March 2006. Nifong failed to get toxicology reports, conduct a recorded interview with the victim, or even build a decent account of events of the night of the alleged rape.

But these failings haven't stopped North Carolina prosecutors in the past"and the state bar association's decision to strip Nifong of his ability to practice law reeks of hypocrisy.

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