What Really Happened at the Duke Lacrosse Party?

That is the focus of an article in the April 23rd issue of Newsweek. While largely a rehash of information available from other sources over the past year, the piece does provide some new details and is worth a read. One thing is clear – and was clear before the article – is that there is more than enough blame and shame to go around in this story, from Nifong, to the Duke faculty and administration, to the news media. One interesting point that the article makes, and that I would reiterate, is that the “behavior” by the lacrosse team that has been nearly universally labeled as “reprehensible” even if not criminal, i.e., having a party where underage men drank beer and hired strippers, was hardly a unique occurrence at Duke, or, for that matter, on any other college campus in America. And I would hope that everyone – even the moron Terry Moran – would agree, that drinking beer underage and paying money to a stripper, hardly excuses or justifies the making of false rape allegations.