BookLog: Until Proven Innocent – Stuart Taylor and KC Johnson

This book covers the events of the attempted railroading of three young men accused of rape. Two of the men could prove that they were not at the house where the woman claimed she was raped, at the time of interest. Despite this they were all indicted. The prosecutor knew that at least one of them couldn’t have been involved, he knew that DNA evidence cleared them, he knew that the woman’s story had changed several times, and yet he proceeded with charges. The DA, Mike Nifong, has now seen his surname become a synonym for being railroaded. This case is a strong indictment of how power can corrupt any person.

The three men received no backing from their college, Duke University. They, and the rest of the lacrosse team, were presumed guilty in the absence of any evidence for their guilt.

It’s hard to tell who the authors have the most contempt for – Mr Nifong, or the staff and Duke who left three young men at the mercy of a corrupt DA.

This book is a must read, particularly for the last few chapters which discuss the way that racial and sexual politics have come to dominate higher education in the last few years. Living in a country where racial politics is a strong feature of life, this section really struck home for me. It would be really nice where the dominant feature of deciding guilt or innocence was not dependant on your race.