Being within a week of the one year anniversary of that most despicable incident that I experienced on the Duke, I was forced to preserve my legal rights by filing a lawsuit against Duke University. I made the trip to Greensboro on April 5th to file the civil papers with clerks in the Federal Court, and the summons and complaints were mailed out that same day.
It was my hope to reasonably settle things with Duke University, and I provided every opportunity to reach a resolution based on the principles of “restorative justice.” Duke’s rebuff, combined with the reluctance of the U.S. Department of Justice to intervene and my so-called political representatives lacking the will and courage to get involved, I was left with no alternative than to take action by filing the complaint.
It is evident in retrospect that Duke utilized information in my pleasant and complimentary letter of April 12, 2010 to ambush me two days later on the 14th of April. The guard was sent to remove me from the campus, and without reason kept threatening to arrest me. I was upset and being kicked off the campus, but compliant, and did not warrant Duke police backup being called in as I was not belligerent, hostile, or threatening. The reason the police was called in was to arrest me, however the security guard and police did not anticipate that I would run into a friend of mine, James Coleman – a Duke law professor, who would intercede on my behalf. Had Professor Coleman not come along when he did, I might still be languishing in a Durham County jail cell.
Duke’s actions against me were outrageous and unwarranted and they should be held accountable. Politicians and the U.S. Department of Justice are not going to do that, which leaves it solely up to me… and that’s a shame.
The media, which gets its marching orders from the powerful and well heeled, will no doubt keep its distance from this story. Therefore, to keep abreast of this ongoing drama, stay tuned to this blog. I will keep you informed.
A link below will take you to the fifteen page complaint. LINK: http://justice4nifong.com/direc/irepoDirec/irepoB1/cvDuke040511.htm For additional information about the case, including audio recording and transcript LINK: http://justice4nifong.com/direc/irepoDirec/irepoB/irepoBopen.htm
