Justice Delayed?

by Thomas Sowell - May 15th, 2006 - TownHall.com

If there is a smoking gun in the Duke University rape case, it is not about the stripper who made the charges or the lacrosse players who have been accused. The smoking gun is the decision of District Attorney Michael Nifong to postpone a trial until the spring of 2007.

That makes no sense from either a legal or a social standpoint, whether the players are guilty or innocent. But it tells us something about District Attorney Nifong.

Suppose, for the sake of argument, that the players are guilty. What is the point of letting a bunch of rapists remain at large for another year? What about the dangers that they would pose to women on or off the Duke University campus?

Now suppose that the players are innocent. Isn't it unconscionable to have this damning charge hanging over their heads for another year?

The Constitution of the United States includes a right to a speedy trial, to keep people from being jerked around by unscrupulous or vindictive prosecutors who cannot prove that they have committed any crime. Prosecutors have to put up or shut up.

This is not a federal case, however, and the laws of North Carolina do not require a speedy trial.

North Carolina is in the news, but it is not something that we should be proud of. Nor in this case is it something that the courts of our nation should be proud of. Federal law is almost always extended down to the state level when it enhances government power over individuals, but where the rights of individuals against the state are concerned, judges can always find a way to make sure that the most restrictive interpretation is used. I understand the courts are agressive in making sure that the rights of one individual over another individual are interpreted expansively, so that they pit one citizen against another. However in this case, because it is an individual against the state, the rights of everyone in this case are being ignored, except for the rights of the District Attorney to flaunt his power.

As usual Thomas Sowell gets right to the heart of the matter. We don't have a right to a speedy trial, and our courts will not extend the federal right to us. North Carolina citizens have to wonder whether our state legislature or the federal courts really care about our rights.