Michael Gaynor
Plea to Duke rape claimant: PLEASE volunteer for a polygraph test
By Michael Gaynor
Another year, another Duke alleged rape case.
Set forth below is the beginning of a New & Observer article by Jessica Rocha, dated February 12, 2007 and entitled "Duke student says she was raped," reporting the alleged rape of a female Duke student by an unidentified male the day before in a bathroom at an off-campus party.
"DURHAM — Police are investigating allegations that a Duke University student was raped at an off-campus party on Gattis Street around 3 a.m. Sunday.
"More than 50 people attended a rowdy party over the weekend at 405 Gattis St., a duplex where several male Duke students live, according to Durham police. Neighbors said large number of cars were parked along the street and loud music blared from the house.
"An 18-year-old woman said she was raped in a bathroom of the residence, according to a Durham police news release.
"Police had not charged anyone but released a description of a suspect. The man is described as being in his late teens or early 20s, about 6-foot-1 and wearing a black do-rag, a gray sweatshirt and blue jeans, according to a police news release...."
One would not know it from the article, but the woman referred to in the article is white and the alleged rapist is black.
The News & Observer did not make a secret of the fact that the false accuser in the Duke case (Crystal Gail Mangum, a name The News & Observer prefers not to print) is black and was accusing young white men of gang raping her.
It's called a double standard.
Be that as it may, I have one standard: suggesting to rape claimants that they voluntarily submit to a polygraph test.
I urge the Duke student now claiming to have been raped to do so, for (1) her sake, (2) the sakes of genuine rape victims and (3) the sakes of those falsely accused of rape (examples: Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and David Evans).
We need both actual rapists to be caught and convicted and those who pose as rape victims to be punished for doing so.
The powers that be in Durham, North Carolina would do well to read the decision of Lord Mansfield in 1569 (when Elizabeth I was Queen). Lord Mansfield ruled that "[e]veryone who comes to this island is entitled to the protection of English law, whatever oppression he may have suffered and whatever may be the colour of his skin" and proclaimed, "Let Justice be done, though the Heavens may fall."
The Duke case sent the message that out-of-state whites may be persecuted on account of the color of their skin.
Going from a criminal justice system that abused blacks to one that abuses whites is change, but not progress.
© Michael Gaynor
Another year, another Duke alleged rape case.
Set forth below is the beginning of a New & Observer article by Jessica Rocha, dated February 12, 2007 and entitled "Duke student says she was raped," reporting the alleged rape of a female Duke student by an unidentified male the day before in a bathroom at an off-campus party.
"DURHAM — Police are investigating allegations that a Duke University student was raped at an off-campus party on Gattis Street around 3 a.m. Sunday.
"More than 50 people attended a rowdy party over the weekend at 405 Gattis St., a duplex where several male Duke students live, according to Durham police. Neighbors said large number of cars were parked along the street and loud music blared from the house.
"An 18-year-old woman said she was raped in a bathroom of the residence, according to a Durham police news release.
"Police had not charged anyone but released a description of a suspect. The man is described as being in his late teens or early 20s, about 6-foot-1 and wearing a black do-rag, a gray sweatshirt and blue jeans, according to a police news release...."
One would not know it from the article, but the woman referred to in the article is white and the alleged rapist is black.
The News & Observer did not make a secret of the fact that the false accuser in the Duke case (Crystal Gail Mangum, a name The News & Observer prefers not to print) is black and was accusing young white men of gang raping her.
It's called a double standard.
Be that as it may, I have one standard: suggesting to rape claimants that they voluntarily submit to a polygraph test.
I urge the Duke student now claiming to have been raped to do so, for (1) her sake, (2) the sakes of genuine rape victims and (3) the sakes of those falsely accused of rape (examples: Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and David Evans).
We need both actual rapists to be caught and convicted and those who pose as rape victims to be punished for doing so.
The powers that be in Durham, North Carolina would do well to read the decision of Lord Mansfield in 1569 (when Elizabeth I was Queen). Lord Mansfield ruled that "[e]veryone who comes to this island is entitled to the protection of English law, whatever oppression he may have suffered and whatever may be the colour of his skin" and proclaimed, "Let Justice be done, though the Heavens may fall."
The Duke case sent the message that out-of-state whites may be persecuted on account of the color of their skin.
Going from a criminal justice system that abused blacks to one that abuses whites is change, but not progress.
© Michael Gaynor
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