Bad decisions cause the dominoes to fall in Duke case

There were two related news events this past month, and as I watched both transpire, I couldn't help but think of dominoes. No, not the game so much, but a gymnasium filled with dominoes standing side by side, making intricate patterns and swoops and swirls Maybe you've seen this on TV or perhaps you have been involved in setting up hundreds, maybe thousands of dominoes and watching them fall.

After one gentle push, the whole scene changes, each domino being totally and fundamentally affected by the one on either side — no longer able to stand independently once the chain of events is underway.

As for the news items, here was the president of Duke University falling all over himself apologizing to the families of lacrosse team players for the anguish they have been through the past year. Apologizing to parents, on behalf of the university, because their children got drunk and phoned some strippers to come to their house. Oh, the apology wasn't worded that way, mind you, but that was one of the things that I couldn't help but hear.

The second event was days later when three of the aforementioned lacrosse team players announced they are suing the city of Durham, N.C., the police of that city and the city prosecutors for $30 million in a "malicious prosecution" lawsuit.

Let's hit some highlights of this quagmire.

Duke is a predominately white university in a racially mixed community and state, a private college, an expensive college. Duke students are often thought to be rich, coddled, and possessing a higher-than-thou attitude. The lacrosse team is often nationally ranked and 18 months ago was ranked first or second in the nation by most athletic pollsters. Lacrosse players are, well, a big men on campus, known by all and idolized in a way football players might be at a Texas university or star basketball players might be at UCLA.

Several players on the team decided to have a big party at their house, complete with plenty of booze, though many were underage. The house was rented by co-captains of the team. Key point here: some players stayed, some left as the night wore on (for varying reasons), and some on the team were never there. Second key point: the three key players are 20, 20 and 23 years old.

One of these brilliant 20-year-olds had the brilliant idea to phone in some strippers that could visit the residence. Those strippers happened to be black. All team members remaining at the party happened to be white. One of the black strippers had a history of alcohol and drug issues and, in fact, was thought by many -- both on- and off-campus who saw her that night -- to be tipsy at the very least, drunk at the most.

The district attorney for the city was in a political position, that is, he had to run for office and an election was upcoming. Many feel that a so-called big case was something the attorney felt would keep his name in people's/voters' minds. It has also been noted that Mike Nifong, the attorney, could woo black voters by taking a strong stand in a case that had overtones of racial inequity.

The young woman who worked the party as a stripper said she was raped at the end of the party. Nifong announced openly and publically that "a rape had definitely occurred' and he was prosecuting the case of assault against the stripper. Three players were picked out as principals. DNA and other evidence was taken from all the team.

A few days later, a group of Duke professors -- often referred to as The Group of 88 -- took out a full-page ad in the Duke Chronicle, a bold headline at the top asking, "What Does a Social Disaster Sound Like?" The ad was filled with anonymous viewpoints regarding the apparent rape incident. To this date, no one has taken full responsibility or credit for the ad, though it was apparently paid for by the African-American Studies program on campus.

Many picketed for weeks with signs that said "Castrate lacrosse" and "It's time to confess." Some lacrosse players had to take classes from professors that participated in pickets and the full-page ad.

Now that the case has been thrown out -- with the stripper unable to identify any player in a lineup, with DNA evidence exonerating the team and with the attorney losing his job and future -- some of these professors are saying the ad was really just about violence against women in general. Others on campus are noting that the signs and the ads should have said, "Let the justice system work," rather than the seeming mad rush to find guilt over innocence. Professors are lambasting professors.

The lacrosse coach -- though not at the party and unaware of its escalation -- was fired by the university president. The president is now taking lots of heat for not supporting his students and adding to the mob rush to guilt. After the rape case was thrown out of court, the coached reached a financial settlement with the university for wrongful loss of job, but is also considering a major lawsuit.

Lacrosse team players have reported that job interviews have mysteriously been cancelled once their former affiliation becomes known.

And that, frankly, is the one piece in this whole ugly pattern of falling dominoes that I feel for -- the kid who wasn't even there. The one who made the right choice based on a personal value system of right and wrong. He won't have a university president apologize to his parents and he won't earn a thin, silver dime from the lawsuit or from the movie likely to be coming down the pike (yes, HBO has purchased the movie rights to the "story").

As all the black and white dominoes fall, touching and pushing the next poor domino in the row down with it, soon there are none left standing. There are no winners, just a mess of dominoes that someone has to pick up.

But I keep looking back to the beginning, to three kids that nudged that first little teeny domino with a couple of teeny bad decisions, who have been exonerated as "innocent," but are far from it.