DON'T FEEL TOO SORRY FOR THE DUKIES

[pokerfan]

http://blogs.abcnews.com/terrymoran/2007/04/dont_feel_too_s_1.html

Rich white frat boys.

Future captains of industry, never worked an honest day in their lives and never will.

[Nicole]

1. Sorry, I'm not buying it.

Just because they are rich white frat boys doesn't mean that I can't feel sorry for them. Their money doesn't mean this hasn't hurt them.

I feel sorry for anyone who is falsely accused, especially those who are tried in the media.

[pokerfan]

2. I don't think we're too far apart on this

I just have much more sympathy for those who are unable to mount million dollar legal defenses and wind up getting railroaded by the system.

[NightWatcher]

3. A false rape charge is one thing

and being spoiled rich kids is another.

I'm on the side of anybody who is falsely accused. Our justice system is supposed to be fair. Rich poor, whatever. A false charge is a false charge. I do not know the details, but the case sounded weak from the beginning.

[Nicole]

8. That's the thing though.

I have to wonder if they didn't have money, would this case have ever gone that far? Was someone hoping to settle out of court for a high dollar amount?

Somethings about this we will never know. What we do know, is they have been found innocent. So they do have my sympathy for what they've been through.

[Nicole]

10. One more thing

I'm not sure how rich they all are. I read somewhere that Reade Seligmann's family had to borrow the bail money to get him out of jail.

[realisticphish]

18. But... but...

they're athletes! They must be rich...

[Nicole]

22. Damn!

Someone forgot to tell me that! :grr:

[vote5polend]

31. but but they went to duke

and theyre white and they must be rich spoiled kids.

[wildhorses]

4. our justice system--you get what you pay for

discuss...


:popcorn:

[mainegreen]

5. Yes, theres been a lot of that, and a lot of strippers are evil crap here lately.

It's been a damned invasion of our own high and mighty left wing morality morans.

[JVS]

6. take this shit to GD, we like having fun in the lounge

[cwydro]

13. oh right

there is NO animosity in the Lounge!:rofl: :popcorn:

[JVS]

14. not over issues. We just engage in personal pettiness

[cwydro]

15. Hadn't noticed.

:rofl: :yoiks:

[realisticphish]

19. Fuck off

;)

To quote The Observer from MST3K: "My race is pacifist and doesn't believe in war. We only kill out of personal spite"

[ronnykmarshall]

7. Oh bullshit.

These guys were charged with RAPE!

I feel sorry for EVERYONE in this case.

[QMPMom]

9. They were falsely accused. NO ONE should have to endure that.

I don't care WHO it is. I hope that they sue the pants off that DA and win. I also hope the DA is disbarred.

[Deja Q]

11. Seconded.

If the creeps were guilty, I'd be saying something else.

As they were not guilty and the evidence is quite compelling, nobody deserves false accusation.

[xchrom]

12. well that's a creepy, hateful and stupid OP.

never let it be said that du soesn't have some things in common with freeperville, and this OP is one of the better examples i've seen.

[pokerfan]

16. wrongly convicted trumps wrongly accused

At least these boys had the resources to mount a vigorous defense.

This guy (and many others like him) did not:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-exonerate9apr09,0,2045894,full.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[realisticphish]

17. so?

yeah, that sucks. That doesn't make the Duke boys (ha) any less innocent; yes, they had money for better lawyers, but how does something completely unrelated to them have anything to do with it?

[pokerfan]

20. The point

is that the justice isn't blind. Justice apparently cares a great deal about the size of your bank account. Prison is for the poor and disenfranchised.

That is my beef with the justice system.

I love how I link a story (from the ABC correspondent's blog) about the guy that spent a decade in prison for a rape he didn't commit, lost everything including his wife and the response is "so?"

I am glad that these boys were exonerated and I hope that that DA gets everything he deserves. but that doesn't change the fact that there are far great injustices.

[realisticphish]

21. I agree with you about the justice system

But other cases are not relevant; it's like saying that we shouldn't feel sorry for people who are sent to jail innocent because, hey, women were burned as witches in the 1600's. It's a non sequitur; yes, other people have been fucked over way worse than the Duke players were, but it doesn't change the fact that, in this case, the system WORKED. Their money didn't do it, their LAWYERS did it. They didn't walk up to the judge and hand him a bag of money, then walk out of the courtroom. The facts were in their favor. Yes, the money helped. In the real world, money ALWAYS helps. And unless we completely socialize the legal profession, that's the way it will always be.

But in any case, by saying "don't feel too sorry for the rich, white frat boys" you're creating a double standard; justice is admirable as long as the people aren't privileged. If a poor kid who went to a community college had this happen to them, and they got off, everyone would consider it a victory for justice. But I should feel differently when the kids are rich and go to a private college? Yes, they'll probably lead far more privileged lives than you or me. Yes, the money helped in hiring high quality lawyers. But that doesn't make it any less just, or any different from any other case where an innocent person was set free.

[Pushed To The Left]

24. This is what finally caused me to change my opinion on capital punishment

Too many wrongful convictions in America. I don't trust our justice system enough to bet lives on it!

[pokerfan]

26. It's the reason I've always been against the death penalty

Criminal trial tilts on reasonable doubt.

In my mind, that's a pretty low bar for the taking of a life. Call me a bleeding heart, but that's just not a high enough standard to kill a person.

The standard would have to be something along the lines of beyond any shade of doubt bordering on absolute certainty.

If they are jailed and leter found innocent, then at least they can given back the rest of their life, such as it might be. You can't restore life to a dead man.

[xchrom]

23. so the fuck what? -- this is about these boys

and stupid hate poured out for no good reason.

you're talking about these other cases -- but they had nothing to do with these boys.

nothing.

good god -- playing ground isn't level -- you just now discovered this einstein?

who on this board isn't for the poor getting a better shake legally?

you're throwing shit around for no good godadamned reason -- it's stupid.

[OllieLotte]

25. Putz. n/t

[La Lioness Priyanka]

27. bull shit!

they were wrongly accused, and deserve sympathy. also they are just college kids.

[cboy4]

28. That's ridiculous. If you watched them on 60 Minutes last night,

you quickly realize how easily that could have happened to anyone.

It's frightening.

Their status has nothing to do with the fact that they were wrongly accused.


on edit: spelling

[taterguy]

29. Don't pity me, fear me

I am a Duckie and I am your worst fucking nightmare

[Rabrrrrrr]

30. Ah, the good ol' DU "They have money so fuck 'em" bullshit.

Yeah, my sympathy ends once someone's bank account hits a certain level.

:eyes:

So tell me, then, what is the money level at which liberals cease to have sympathy, empathy, or care for someone's suffering? And there is some kind of rubric that also includes the type of suffering? That is, do we tell anyone who earns $100K a year to go fuck themselves unless they have lung cancer, but someone who earns $50K gets a pass on the liberal "fuck you" if they have lung cancer OR lose a limb due to diabetes OR are accused of rape wrongly? Or is the line for sympathy for false rape accusations down at the $15K a year level?

I also need to know race fits into this - is the above only for white people? Do African-Americans get to earn twice as much because we liberals have to tell 'em to go fuck themselves? Three times as much? What is the Liberal-Based Income Modifier for Hispanics? Illegal immigrants?

How does gender fit in? I mean, if you have a disabled African American Southern woman falsely accused of rape, is our sympathy level at the $750K a year level?

Please inform us how your system works, because I find it constantly confusing how our hatred is supposed to be doled out based on a person' income/worth. And please, make it clear.

Thanks!

[Evoman]

32. I think people are pissed because white, rich people are the only one who ever GET justice.

The rest of us, if accused, are fucked.

So yeah, I'm glad they were found not guilty. I'm glad that nobody was falsely imprisoned.

But being a minority myself, I understand the anger. I understand the feelings of jealousy that people hold towards the priviledges of rich people. I can even understand the feelings of indignity that a black stripper would have after being hooted and hollered at by people who think they own the world.

[alarimer]

33. That's it exactly

They have every advantage and it worked for them. And they will probably never get shot at in Iraq. Feel sorry for the guy who loses his limbs (or his life) in a bullshit war. i don't feel sorry for rich white guys who have everything handed to them on a silver platter. They found out life is a little unfair sometimes. boo fucking hoo.

[nini]

34. Sorry.. even rich, obnoxious boys shouldn't be falsely accused

A rape accusation is no joke and when anyone is falsely accused it makes it even harder for the legitimate cases get prosecuted.


The fact this guys are white, rich and privileged doesn't make it any different than if it was a poor minority man. The accusation is wrong.

Separate the fact they had the resources to defend themselves from the fact it was a bogus claim. Being accused of a rape you didn't do should not be tolerated regardless of who you are.