Duke Lacrosse Players Sue School, City

I have three words for them: Good for you!

RALEIGH, N.C. - More than three dozen current and former Duke lacrosse players claim in a lawsuit they suffered emotional distress during the furor over the now-discredited rape case against three of their teammates.

I am usually very anti-lawyer, but in my opinion, this lawsuit is a necessity.

Attorneys planned to file a federal lawsuit Thursday in North Carolina that accuses Duke University, the City of Durham and several school and police officials of fraud, abuse, and breach of duty for supporting the prosecution of the case.

And the lax team's reputation will never fully recover. Try searching for "Duke Lacrosse" and see what you find. I guarantee most of the search results will be about the rape case.

Lead attorney Chuck Cooper said the private university turned its back on the players to protect the school's image.

And Mr. Cooper is absolutely right. Instead of sitting it out and waiting for the case to unfold in the courts, Duke passed judgment on the three players immediately without due process. The season was canceled, school professors condemned them in the media, and Al Sharpton was welcomed to campus with the flourish of a head of state.

"This lawsuit is born out of Duke and Durham's sustained wrongdoing and callous conduct against the players," Cooper said while announcing the lawsuit at a news conference in Washington, D.C.

Frankly, the players never had a chance. No one on the uber-liberal campus wanted to listen to the story of wealthy, racist, white boys. Instead, they showered praise on the fine, upstanding stripper with the heart of gold. Who cared if she was a liar?

The players accuse Duke of ignoring, suppressing and discrediting evidence that proved the players innocence, of idly standing by while the players suffered abuse and harassment on campus, and of imposing discipline that implied the team was guilty. Duke suspended and then canceled the highly ranked team's season in the wake of the rape allegation. (H/T - AP via Yahoo!)

Truer words were never written. As a high school lacrosse coach, I can tell you that when one of our kids screws up - it's rare, but it happens - we give them the benefit of the doubt. We don't drink the Kool-Aid, because teenage boys can be a royal pain in the arse, but we don't immediately condemn them, either. They deserve that courtesy.

The Duke lacrosse team deserved it, too, except no one told the school.