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Fallout from Grace
Legal bloggers are buzzing about K.C. Johnson's post Graceless at his blog Durham-in-Wonderland yesterday. Professor Bainbridge calls it "a must-read post" and "a devastating indictment of the worst of the legal talking heads." Overlawyered praises Johnson for having "assembled the details on the CNN/Court TV commentator's scurrilous handling of the lacrosse rape allegations."
Johnson, a professor of history at Brooklyn College, says that CNN host Nancy Grace is one of three people who stand out as the worst of the broadcast media. (The others: Boston-based commentator Wendy J. Murphy and Maryland lawyer Georgia H. Goslee.) Of Grace, he writes:
"Grace, who regularly mocked principles of due process, allowed guests ... to say virtually anything denouncing the players, while challenging even the mildest assertion suggesting the players' innocence. And, when the case imploded, this television bully, who takes such joy in shouting down guests who challenge her views, was silent."
He goes on to make his case with a detailed review of 25 episodes of Grace's show that included portions devoted to the Duke case. He calls her a "mistress of innuendo" and says that, when innuendo failed her, she turned to non-existent evidence. He closes with a hilarious Saturday Night Live send-up of Grace.
In his comment on Johnson's post, Stephen Bainbridge says:
"There's a lot wrong with the legal profession and TV 'star' Nancy Grace accounts for much of it. Her relentless pro-prosecution bias, her Torquemada-like attitude towards punishment, and her attack dog personality routinely hold the legal profession up to disrepute."
Johnson is not a lawyer, but he certainly knows how to assemble facts and make his case.
Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on February 20, 2007 at 05:48 PM | Permalink
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