Responses to the 2006 Duke University lacrosse case

The 2006 Duke University lacrosse case resulted in a great deal of coverage in the local and national media as well as a widespread community response at Duke and in the Durham, North Carolina area.

Media coverage

Initial coverage (March-April 2006)

The case attracted widespread media attention almost from the moment it became public. The apparent circumstances—three white males (David Evans, Reade Seligmann, and Collin Finnerty) from privileged backgrounds at an elite university apparently taking advantage of a student and single mother (Crystal Gail Mangum) from a crosstown black college (NCCU), trying to make ends meet by working as a stripper and escort—seemed tailor-made for wall-to-wall coverage. However, once the case deteriorated, critics saw it as a stinging showcase of bias in the media and the university system.

Among those giving extensive coverage to the matter was Nancy Grace. Before Duke suspended its men's lacrosse team's season, she sarcastically noted on the air, "I'm so glad they didn't miss a lacrosse game over a little thing like gang rape!" and "Why would you go to a cop in an alleged gang rape case, say, and lie and give misleading information?" Another, Susan Estrich, said "I teach criminal law. But what are we dealing with here? The mafia, or a sports team from a first-class university. Instead, they hire them lawyers to trash the victim and the...
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