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I heard this morning that the DA’s Office in North Carolina has dismissed all charges against the three Lacrosse players. Two new prosecuters who took over the case after Michael Nifong recused himself (under threat of disbarment), said there was many, many discrepancies with the allegations and dismissed all legal charges.

In the heat of the current affairs regarding Don Imus, one of the players said in the news conference yesterday “he stole our joy.”

Don Imus went on Al Sharpton’s show to apologize. Good move. Don also is going to meet with the Rutger’s basketball team. Better move.

Not to dismiss anything as “not important” or proclaim it’s OK, consider the acrimony over the three lacrosse players, some of it lead by Al Sharpton:

[…]
REV. AL SHARPTON, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: I think that there are certainly a lot of racial factors. Whether it is directly in the case, we’ll see, because some reports said that there was racial language used. But I think that when you look at the racial atmosphere, when you look at the fact that there again were the allegations of racial statements, when you look at a lot of people feeling that they have been treated differently, where this girl has basically had a character charged in the media, there is a lot of racism that’s in the air. Having said that, I commend a lot of the blacks and whites who stood vigil and to come together in that community to stand up for this girl. So I think in the midst of this, there is some good.
[…]

(from an interview with Bill O’Reilly on Fox News 4/19/2006)

If it was bad for Don Imus to steal someone’s joy, is it also bad to steal someone’s life, future and education, in addition to making their families put out thousands of dollars. More than joy was stolen, not only from the 3 young men, but of an entire team, the coach included, and the reputation of the very school who had 88 faculty members condemn before evidence was looked at with the quality we expect from our legal system.

This issue will follow these three young men for many years to come. Check out an employment application and note that most likely they will have to disclose they have been charged with felonies, regardless of the outcome, the question usually lists “been charged with, convicted of, plead no contest to a felony” as conditions of filling out the response to a criminal history. It will show up on background checks, also. Hopefully the NC legal system will drop everything and expunge the charges immediately, due to the long term nature of this case and the high level of interest it generated.

So…I’m just waiting for Al Sharpton, who has positioned himself as a voice for his community, and had strong opinions on the subject, to invite the entire Duke Lacrosse Team to his show and apologize. I think it would do well for many people, in the media and at the school to seek some private meetings as well. All in the name of what Martin Luther King was after for us all.

Would that be expecting too much?

Update: In response to the so far two comments left, I don’t have a category for “Satire” in my database yet, but this is some politics and then, you guessed it a “Walking in a Wishful Wonderland” type of moment. I’m sure not blue in the face yet, nor do I expect to get there.

Tracked back@: stik N stein