More on Duke Lacrosse at SEALS

For those interested, the audio of my SEALS panel is here. Download DukePanel0730.mp3

I thought it went very well, an excellent, vibrant discussion. We managed to hit almost all the points and issues I wanted to hit, although not necessarily in any expected order; in fact, we got knocked out of expected order after the first answer. We also had a nice crowd of about 40 people, not too bad.

Ironically, the one major thing we did not get to discuss are the two pending lawsuits against Duke and Durham and its officials (ironically, since these lawsuits are what started me down this road in the first place) and the idea of using civil litigation to gain compensation and remedy for misconduct within the criminal justice system. But I spoke with an audience member afterwards about doing a follow-up at next SEALS, focusing on these post hoc remedial issues and whatever develops with them in the next year. Interestingly, the two lawsuits may have turned campus opinion somewhat against the players, painting them as greedy. I am not sure I agree with the sentiment, but a forms a good baseline for understanding this use of civil litigation.

Posted in: