A Day Without Duke...
...would be like a day without sunshine. (That's a little historical reference for you young folk.)
To that end...
At Duke, university officials have finalized the details regarding grill use and alcohol policies for the Last Day of Classes celebration on April 26th.
(Just kidding!)
While Durham County D.A. Mike Nifong swears he's going to arrest a third suspect sooner or later, Reade Seligmann's lawyer says he has conclusive evidence that his client wasn't even at the party at the time the alleged rape allegedly occurred..... Maybe Nifong should just arrest the whole team, one by one, until he finds someone who doesn't have a good alibi.
Meanwhile, according to the Times,
in Charlottesville, Va., Chip Royer, a lawyer for Jeffrey O. Bloxsom, who says he was assaulted by Mr. Finnerty last year, said Mr. Bloxsom was being hounded by the news media because of the Duke case and was now considering a civil suit against Mr. Finnerty.
A conversation with a media lawyer friend convinced me that I'm probably wrong and that it's not ultimately a good idea to print the names of alleged rape victims. But I remain uncomfortable with the fact that the accused are getting reams of bad publicity, as is Mr. Bloxsom (a terrific name, by the way), and the accuser, whose story seems profoundly murky, remains anonymous.
(One does have to wonder about Mr. Bloxsom's sudden consideration of a civil suit, however.)
I've noticed that the media has also declined to identify the woman referred to as "the second exotic dancer," despite the fact that she's given quite a few interviews. Of course, she's probably giving the interviews on the condition of anonymity. But surely some reporters down there must know her name. On what basis are they withholding her identity?
But as I say, it's probably right that if the media printed the names of alleged rape victims, many victims would not come forward to press charges against their assailants.
In an ideal world, perhaps the media wouldn't name the names of the accused until the end of a trial....
