What's at Stake in the Duke Case

It's astonishing how much media attention is given to the Duke lacrosse case. Wow, a prosecutor going after people who might not be guilty, and ignoring evidence that points to their innocence. That happens every day in America, but apparently nobody noticed until it happened to the rich white guys (which is so rare that it really is news). Sadly, the shaky case may convince some people to think that rape is over-reported and angry women make false accusations. In reality, rape is clearly the most under-prosecuted serious crime. Conservatives still try to pretend that feminists make up data on the prevalence of rape despite numerous confirming studies. (See the chapter in my Myth of Political Correctness book, which has been definitively shown to be right by studies in the decade since then.)

The key campus issue here is the misconduct of Duke University administrators. Suspending an entire team because of the alleged extracurricular misdeeds of some members of it is never right, and it should be condemned as such. Yes, the students should be given a stern finger-wagging for their sexist and racist and just plain stupid actions. And if some kind of criminal activity can be proven, perhaps (but only perhaps) those guilty students, after due process, should be suspended from the team. But collective punishment for individual actions is never right.