How do you figure Duke University is responsible for the legal bills? Durham County, yes. Duke, no.
I personally think that any suit against Duke itself has little chance of winning. Clear case against Nifong personally and Durham County, but that's probably where it ends.
I highly doubt the accuser is sued or that any Lax player that wasn't charged sues anyone.
I highly doubt the accuser is sued or that any Lax player that wasn't charged sues anyone. I completely disagree.
Duke closed the lacrosse program for the entire year, lending credence that others on the team were involved.
You'd be a very poor advocate for those who've been harmed. I would sue each and every single individual involved in this travesty, no matter what the cost.
I personally think that any suit against Duke itself has little chance of winning. I totally disagree.
The University not only allowed 88 sitting professors to attack these young men, there is evidence some members of the Duke University administration encouraged it through e-mails, phone calls, and the posting of flyers on campus. There are records that their lawyers will demand from the University. Count on it.
Secondly, the University had an obligation to treat these young men and the entire team as innocent until proved guilty before the law. They didn't. On the contrary, it will be argued that Duke conspired to deny them their civil rights and due process.
The University will try to argue it was just complying with the DA and the local police, but they can only play that game so far - especially since the DA is now going down for unethical and illegal practices!
Third, the University had an obligation to be an advocate for students under the care of an institution that the parents paid big, big bucks for. The University threw them to the wolves.
I am sure their player's lawyers and the parents have had plenty of time to think of scores of other reasons to rightfully sue Duke.
Believe me, they will. The Endowment of Duke is in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
The accuser and Nifong have no money. Nifong wanted to get reelected to secure his pension. He won't ever see a dime.
The psycho accuser could get charged for perjury and filing a false police report. I think that may happen, but a lawsuit against her would be financially unproductive.
Case in point?
The families of the lax team asked the administration to ensure the privacy of the lax team members by taking the roster w/ photos off the Duke web site. Duke failed to do so for 9 days thereby enabling production of the infamous poster containing team member names and photographs that was circulated on campus and in Durham. That allowed the lax team members to be targeted for abuse by the campus radicals and the New Black Panther Party which is a known violent hate group. This became particularly critical when the NBPP announced a march on campus and Duke's initial response was "Hey, we believe in free speech, come on down!". It was only after the NBPP announced that it was going to "interview" lax team members that Duke told them they couldn't come on campus. Meanwhile the lax team members had to move out of their dorm rooms and hide during the middle of final exams.
Short form: there are very strict laws about protecting student privacy and Duke could be in violation of them.