Sunday, June 17, 2007

School: Yeah, who didn't see that coming?

The Duke lacrosse team prosecutor has been disbarred for ethics violations. This is a punishment the prosecutor actually supported in a good old-fashioned bout of mea culpa. Now the families of the lacrosse team members are pushing for criminal charges.

In this case, the facts are fairly clear (even Nifong himself admitted to them), and they might indeed support criminal charges. Disbarment is a great penalty to a lawyer, to be sure, but my libertarian streak compels me to take this position: any misuse of the machinery of government and the vast forces of the state, in bad faith, must be punished severely. Society should not offer succor to dishonest people, and this goes doubly to dishonest people in power.

One of my friends from undergrad is attending law school at a fairly famous institution right now. When I described P.R., he seemed fascinated and also somewhat surprised. I asked him if he was required to take an ethics course - he said he wasn't. In my experience, taking a legal ethics class in the first year is one of the few great decisions my law school has made. I wonder if Nifong ever took one?...

4 Comments:

At 7:13 AM, Blogger James R. Rummel said...

So what charges can they bring against Nifong, anyway? Most of the talking heads that have been on the news programs discuss disbarment, and that is it. Since most of those interviewed are lawyers, I get the impression that it is probably the worst punishment they can imagine.

Me, I think that having to find a new job is hardly all that big a deal.

James

 
At 4:48 PM, Blogger Mulliga said...

Unfortunately, I doubt Nifong was stupid enough to perjure himself - he'd be a Class F felon under NC law then. I also don't think the NC obstruction of justice statute applies here.

It's a sad fact of life - lawyers are sometimes wary of prosecuting other lawyers, especially those of the executive branch itself. After all, did Nixon or Clinton ever go to jail?

 
At 6:19 AM, Blogger James R. Rummel said...

So a civil case is the best anyone could do?

James

 
At 8:36 AM, Blogger Mulliga said...

I believe so. I don't think prosecutorial discretion quite covers something like this.

 

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