The last sentence in the “Newsweek” article titled Crystal Mangum’s Return to Court: A sad final chapter to the Duke lacrosse scandal,” reads as follows: “She's under house arrest on a $250,000 bond.” This article by “Newsweek” writer and Duke University alum Susannah Meadows was posted online on February 23, 2010. However, a reliable source e-mailed me on March 22, 2010 (nearly one month after the “Newsweek” posting) to say that Crystal Mangum was still languishing behind bars in jail. In other words, she was not under house arrest as stated in the “Newsweek” article.
Unlike the unregulated and self-serving North Carolina State Bar’s disciplinary lead jurist F. Lane Williamson, who possesses the divine power of reading former Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong’s and other attorneys’ minds and miraculously determining their intent, I am not blessed with such powers. Therefore, I am unable to determine whether the author of the article, Ms. Meadows, purposefully intended to mislead readers or whether this error was nothing more than another example of her blatantly sloppy journalism.
Normally I would attribute the mistake to the former, however, it is possible that she may have relied on confusing articles by other media sources, specifically NBC 17 News or the News & Observer, as a basis for her claim that Ms. Mangum was under house arrest. Both of these media sources, I believe, intentionally wrote questionable but convoluted and confusing accounts of Ms. Mangum’s incarceration status in order to falsely imply that she was under house arrest rather than being held within the confines of a small jail cell.
Possible misleading sources which Ms. Meadows may have referred to could possibly have included reports by NBC 17 News and/or the News & Observer. NBC 17 News posted online on February 22, 2010 the following article titled “Mangum To Remain On House Arrest, Bond Reduced To $250,000,” and opened with the following paragraph: “Crystal Mangum, the accuser in the Duke Lacrosse case, will remain under electronic house arrest until her next court appearance on April 5 based on last week's charges of arson, assault and child endangerment.” The News & Observer article of February 22, 2010 titled “Duke lacrosse accuser Mangum’s bond reduced” contained this confusing and misleading passage: “As a condition of the bond, Mangum must not have any contact with her boyfriend and remain under electronic house arrest until the case is resolved or the court changes the condition of the bond.”
Why, you ask, would the media prefer to mislead the masses into believing that Ms. Mangum’s custody arrangement was to be restricted to the premises of her home with her only discomfort coming from an electronic monitor strapped to her ankle rather than the stark reality of the cold, small jail cell in which she was actually confined? The answer is simple… to give the appearance that the courts and judicial system in North Craolina possess a modicum of compassion and fair play. However, under the selective circumstances of her arrest and its aftermath, such an illusion is impossible for the objective and logical mind to accept, much less comprehend.
Any reasonable person knows the excessively selective, punitive, and draconian treatment of Crystal Mangum by the Durham police, prosecutors, and courts stems from the fact that she was the accuser in the Duke Lacrosse case. The backlash against Ms. Mangum is the proximate result of the malicious Carpetbagger Jihad against Mike Nifong etal. invoked by Rae Evans, mother of Duke Lacrosse defendant Dave Evans. And even though Durham’s Duke University has given $21 million to the carpetbagger families in an out-of-court settlement, and the City of Durham has spent millions of dollars in attorneys’ fees in defending against the $30 million lawsuit filed by the avaricious carpetbaggers, the cash-strapped city mindlessly continues to target Mike Nifong, Crystal Mangum, and their supporters, as well as any other detractors of the Duke Lacrosse defendants.
The abhorrent treatment given to Ms. Mangum by the state of North Carolina only solidifies the assertion that the North Carolina criminal justice system is truly one of “selective justice based on Class and Color.” Some of the charges filed by Durham Police and prosecutors against Ms. Mangum (especially attempted first degree murder and communicating threats) are rarely, if ever, made in domestic violence cases. Likewise, the charge of identity theft against Ms. Mangum is inappropriate and rarely made against individuals who refuse to give their birth/legal names or use an alias when questioned by police investigating a crime which does not involve the use of another’s name for criminal or fraudulent means.
For a $1 million bond to be imposed in a domestic violence case is unheard of, especially when a weapon is not involved and there are no physical injuries sustained by either party. For a judge to set a bail for Ms. Mangum that is unreachable and unreasonable is a travesty of justice, especially when bonds of such magnitude are not routinely issued in other instances of domestic violence cases where physical abuse is far more grievous than in this case.
Because the biased main-street media is vested in carrying on the vindictive mandate set forth by the Carpetbagger Jihad, I am not surprised by the absence of editorial media outrage at the selective and unfair treatment of Ms. Mangum. Nor am I surprised by the silence emanating from the leadership representing African American communities in Durham and throughout North Carolina. Dr. Rev. William Barber, president of the state NAACP, is quick to attack as racist the statement of a Wake School Board chairman who referred to proponents of the school system’s standing diversity policy as “animals released from cages”… But when an African American woman falls victim to the blatantly excessive and draconian actions of the state’s criminal justice system, he doesn’t say a word. The same can be said for civil rights attorney Al McSurely. Surely, they do not believe her treatment in this “domestic violence” case is justified.
Leaders of the black communities of Durham and North Carolina should have supported Mike Nifong when he was being prosecuted and persecuted by the state because of his handling of the Duke Lacrosse case… but they abandoned him. So, it comes, therefore, as no surprise that Barber, McSurely, and other so-called leaders of the black people in North Carolina would turn their backs to the suffering and unjust plight of Ms. Mangum.
When it comes to a confrontation with the Carpetbagger Jihad Juggernaut, few people or organizations, with the exception of the Committee on Justice for Mike Nifong, have the stomach to man up against its injustice. So, as leaders of the black communities of Durham and North Carolina intentionally stay away from the fray with regards to this issue of injustice, Crystal Mangum remains incarcerated within a tiny cell and continues to suffer injustice. She does not, as the biased mainstream media would like the public to believe, enjoy the small comfort of confinement under house arrest.
Showing posts with label Susannah Meadows. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Susannah Meadows. Show all posts
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
$1,000 offered for logical explanation of illogical statement
In a Newsweek web exclusive by Susannah Meadows dated February 23, 2010, is the following passage:
As the trial wore on, one defendant's mother, Rae Evans even expressed sympathy for Mangum. "You know, when I'm trying to get over the rage, I am thinking about so deeply this young woman who has been abused by men all her life, and nobody has abused her more than Mike Nifong," she said, referring to the Durham prosecutor.
In accordance with many error-plagued media articles about the Duke Lacrosse case and its original prosecutor former Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong, Newsweek writer Susannah Meadows stated that a trial was held in the Duke Lacrosse case. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. Most people, at least those in North Carolina, are aware of the fact that after Mr. Nifong was forced to recuse himself from the case, the Attorney General’s Office dropped charges against the three Duke Lacrosse defendants. A trial date was never set, a jury was never selected, and a trial was never held.
Whether or not this misstatement was the honest result of sloppy journalism, or the willful attempt to mislead the reader, I do not know. What I find most ludicrous is the quote attributed to Rae Evans, mother of Duke Lacrosse defendant Dave Evans. Ms. Evans states, “… I am thinking about so deeply this young woman who has been abused by men all her life, and nobody has abused her (Crystal Mangum) more than Mike Nifong.” Naturally, Rae Evans does not explain how she came to the conclusion that Mike Nifong abused Ms. Mangum, and how the abuse she suffered at his hands is worse than the abuse she suffered at the hands of other men. Is she talking physical abuse? Emotional abuse? Mental abuse? Spiritual abuse? And, of course, writer Meadows doesn’t delve into the issue or question the alleged abuse by Mr. Nifong. She just tosses it out there like a piece of rotten bologna for the media subscribers to consume. More media Jedi mind-tricks played on the public.
In my quest to try and understand the illogical statement by Ms. Evans, I am offering a one thousand dollar ($1,000.00) award to anyone who can explain to me what Rae Evans said and meant in her quote about Mr. Nifong’s abusive behavior toward Ms. Mangum. The explanation must make sense and be reasonable in order to collect the prize. This offer is open worldwide, without age restrictions, and without I.Q. restrictions. I alone will make the judgment as to whether or not any of the entries satisfies the requirement needed to be granted the award. The payment, if any is forthcoming, will be made by cashier’s check, and will be presented after James Arthur Johnson receives the $20,000.00 reward offered by the family and friends of Brittany Willis for solving the death of the young Wilson teen. Entries can be made either in the comment section of the blog, or sent by e-mail to: justice4nifong@gmail.com.
Unfortunately, the Newsweek article was as anti-Nifong biased as they come. For Newsweek to assign the subject matter to a Duke alum staff writer (Ms. Meadows) doesn’t instill much confidence that an evenhanded and objective work will be the end product.
And Ms. Meadows states that this is the sad final chapter to the Duke lacrosse scandal…? Don’t count on it! The final chapter in the Duke Lacrosse saga will end with Mike Nifong’s law license being unilaterally and unconditionally reinstated by the North Carolina State Bar.
As the trial wore on, one defendant's mother, Rae Evans even expressed sympathy for Mangum. "You know, when I'm trying to get over the rage, I am thinking about so deeply this young woman who has been abused by men all her life, and nobody has abused her more than Mike Nifong," she said, referring to the Durham prosecutor.
In accordance with many error-plagued media articles about the Duke Lacrosse case and its original prosecutor former Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong, Newsweek writer Susannah Meadows stated that a trial was held in the Duke Lacrosse case. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. Most people, at least those in North Carolina, are aware of the fact that after Mr. Nifong was forced to recuse himself from the case, the Attorney General’s Office dropped charges against the three Duke Lacrosse defendants. A trial date was never set, a jury was never selected, and a trial was never held.
Whether or not this misstatement was the honest result of sloppy journalism, or the willful attempt to mislead the reader, I do not know. What I find most ludicrous is the quote attributed to Rae Evans, mother of Duke Lacrosse defendant Dave Evans. Ms. Evans states, “… I am thinking about so deeply this young woman who has been abused by men all her life, and nobody has abused her (Crystal Mangum) more than Mike Nifong.” Naturally, Rae Evans does not explain how she came to the conclusion that Mike Nifong abused Ms. Mangum, and how the abuse she suffered at his hands is worse than the abuse she suffered at the hands of other men. Is she talking physical abuse? Emotional abuse? Mental abuse? Spiritual abuse? And, of course, writer Meadows doesn’t delve into the issue or question the alleged abuse by Mr. Nifong. She just tosses it out there like a piece of rotten bologna for the media subscribers to consume. More media Jedi mind-tricks played on the public.
In my quest to try and understand the illogical statement by Ms. Evans, I am offering a one thousand dollar ($1,000.00) award to anyone who can explain to me what Rae Evans said and meant in her quote about Mr. Nifong’s abusive behavior toward Ms. Mangum. The explanation must make sense and be reasonable in order to collect the prize. This offer is open worldwide, without age restrictions, and without I.Q. restrictions. I alone will make the judgment as to whether or not any of the entries satisfies the requirement needed to be granted the award. The payment, if any is forthcoming, will be made by cashier’s check, and will be presented after James Arthur Johnson receives the $20,000.00 reward offered by the family and friends of Brittany Willis for solving the death of the young Wilson teen. Entries can be made either in the comment section of the blog, or sent by e-mail to: justice4nifong@gmail.com.
Unfortunately, the Newsweek article was as anti-Nifong biased as they come. For Newsweek to assign the subject matter to a Duke alum staff writer (Ms. Meadows) doesn’t instill much confidence that an evenhanded and objective work will be the end product.
And Ms. Meadows states that this is the sad final chapter to the Duke lacrosse scandal…? Don’t count on it! The final chapter in the Duke Lacrosse saga will end with Mike Nifong’s law license being unilaterally and unconditionally reinstated by the North Carolina State Bar.
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