(Adapted from an email I sent my teen-aged son earlier this week, with input from my wife.)
Dear [offspring],
You ought to read this AP story and this opinion piece about the district attorney (DA) in North Carolina, one Mike Nifong, who is prosecuting those three Duke University lacrosse players. Apparently I’m not the only one who’s shocked at the way this DA seems willing to suppress evidence, and to keep pressing charges even though his case appears to have fallen completely apart. From what I’ve read, it looks to me as though he doesn’t give a (hoot) about truth, or following the law, or anything except his own political career.
Here’s my first point: If this DA proceeds to trial, you never know how a random set of 12 jurors will view the evidence. It may come down to whom the jury believes: The lacrosse players, or the accuser. Never forget that the jury usually has the final say about witness credibility. I can guarantee two things:
- The lacrosse players’ reputations for telling the truth could turn out to be crucial evidence; and
- If the lacrosse players have anything in their past that might make them seem less credible, the DA’s people will be trying to put that in front of the jury to cast doubt on their testimony.
Remember how the jury in OJ Simpson’s criminal trial found him not guilty? Even though the evidence had convinced a lot of other people that Simpson had done it? Well, this jury might go the other way. They might convict the lacrosse players regardless of how flimsy the evidence might seem to outsiders. If that were to happen, those lacrosse players could end up in prison for a long time.
Point two: It sounds to me like this DA had his own
agenda, which had little or nothing to do with whether the three
lacrosse players were actually guilty. He seems to have decided it
would help his reelection campaign to try to send these ‘rich white
boys’ to prison so that he’d look good to minority voters. And now
that he’s taken such a public stance about it, he’s probably afraid
he’ll look foolish if he backs down.
Don’t get me wrong: The overwhelming majority of government
officials usually try very hard to do the right thing. But you never
know when you’re going to run into an official who has other fish to
fry and doesn’t care whether ‘innocent’ bystanders get hurt in the
process.
Point three: There are other ‘players’ who often have
agendas of their own, especially the press and/or ‘community
activists.’ Note this scary quote from the opinion piece I linked to
above:
The presumption of their guilt was nearly
instantaneous among Duke administrators and many faculty, from whom
others in the community took their cues. As one student at Durham’s
historically black North Carolina Central University put it to
Newsweek, he wanted the lacrosse players punished "whether it happened or not. It would be justice for things that happened in the past." (Emphasis mine.)
In
other words, it appears that the DA isn’t the only one who’s willing to
send these three guys to prison regardless whether they actually broke the law. (You have to wonder if anyone on the jury will secretly feel
like that.)
The most important point: Someday you could be
doing something you’re technically entitled to do, like these Duke
lacrosse players (probably) thought when they were partying. There are some other questions you’ll have to keep in mind, however:
- What will other people think about what you’re doing, and what kind of
personal agendas will they have? - Will the evidence let them get away with
doing bad things to you?
If someone in a position of power sees stepping on you as an opportunity to advance his personal agenda, then you could end up in deep (trouble), even if technically
you’re doing nothing illegal.
Again, don’t get me wrong: There will be times when you have to
stand up for your principles, regardless what kind of trouble it gets
you in. Jesus did that; so did the founders of this country.
But not every situation will be like that. There will be many other
times when you’ll be better off choosing your battles, in the interest of not creating opportunities for people who might welcome the chance to hurt you for
their own purposes.
And if you ever do get caught in a situation like that of the
lacrosse players, your personal reputation for truthfulness and
integrity could turn out to be extraordinarily important.
I agree, it sucks. But as you’ve heard me say many times: You don’t argue with the weather, you prepare for it. Sometimes that includes prudently staying out of its way. Remember that when you and your friends decide you want to go off and do something.
Love,
Dad
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