Feb. 27, 2012

“One (change made by District Attorney Frank Parrish) was the assignment of Assistant District Attorney Nancy Lamb as ‘Chief Assistant District Attorney,’ making one of her duties ‘quality control’ and noting she will only continue to ‘try cases as necessary.’ ”

– From the Outer Banks Voice (Feb. 14, 2012)

“Quality control”? That’s hardly a gift that evinced itself in Lamb’s frenzied, hysterical prosecution of the Edenton Seven.

But her removal from the courtroom should be reassuring to innocent defendants throughout the First Judicial District.

Feb. 13, 2012

“It is evident that, although mistakes were made in the handling of the (Little Rascals) case, these children definitely were sexually abused by one or more individuals at the day care center. To suggest otherwise is to revictimize these smallest victims.

“As a professor of social work at UNCG whose specialty is child abuse, I would like the public to be aware that research has shown that 97-99 out of 100 children who report that they have been sexually abused are telling the truth. When a child tells you that an unauthorized adult is ‘playing doctor’ with him/her, it is highly likely that he/she is describing some sort of abuse.

“If you do not believe the child, you become part of the victimization of that child. If you believe that detection and prosecution of child abuse cases are witch hunts, then you protect child molesters and allow them to continue to traumatize children. I cannot imagine that the responsible people of this state want to put themselves on the side of criminals who abuse children.”

Elisabeth Porter Hurd, Greensboro

– From a letter to the editor of the Greensboro News & Record, June 9, 1997

Does Dr. Hurd still believe that the Little Rascals children “definitely were sexually abused”? And that to doubt the prosecution’s case was to “protect child molesters and allow them to continue to traumatize children”?

Last week I asked Dr. Hurd whether she might have changed her mind – so far no response.

March 6, 2013

Anthony “Tony” Oberschall, professor (now emeritus) of sociology at UNC Chapel Hill, wrote extensively – if not prominently – about the insanity of the Little Rascals case. How was Oberschall able to resist the storyline that seduced so many others?

“Before retiring from UNC in 2005,” he recalls, “I taught in universities for 40 years. One of my fields of writing and research concerned collective behavior – collective myths, false beliefs, rumors, how they originate and why they are believed.

“As the Little Rascals prosecution unfolded right before my eyes (actually, as reported in the News & Observer), it became obvious to me that this was but one more instance of moral panic, false beliefs and miscarriage of justice….”

Oberschall likens the prosecution narrative to “the widely believed Iraqi WMD story disseminated by the Bush administration in 2002. Unthinking acceptance of what the authorities are asserting, alas, happens all too often.”

In early 1993, Oberschall sent the N&O both an op-ed column and a response to a Dennis Rogers column, but neither appeared nor drew a response from the paper. (They have now been posted on the Bookshelf of Case Materials on this site.)

“At that point,” he says, “having been stonewalled, I decided to research Little Rascals in depth and wrote several times about it in scholarly publications in subsequent years.”

More about Oberschall’s research in Thursday’s post.

Jan. 6, 2016

“Many fans of (the hit Netflix documentary) Making a Murderer, which sheds light on questionable conduct by prosecutors and police involved in (Steven) Avery’s conviction, view the 53-year-old’s imprisonment as a miscarriage of justice and petitioned President Obama to pardon Avery. The online petitions have garnered more than 200,000 signatures.

“There’s just one problem: Avery is a state prisoner convicted under state law. The president only has the constitutional power to pardon or commute sentences in the federal system.

“Fans of Making a Murderer who believe Avery deserves clemency should consider signing this petition addressed to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, which has so far been signed by just 1,033 people….”

– From “Hey, Making a Murderer Fans: Obama Can’t Pardon Steven Avery” by Leon Neyfakh at Slate (Jan. 4)

Junior Chandler’s application for gubernatorial clemency was rejected in 2014 and isn’t eligible for reconsideration until March 25, 2017.

But those who believe almost 30 years in prison is adequate punishment for a nonexistent crime may express their opinion by writing

Executive Clemency Office
4294 Mail Service Center
Raleigh NC 27699-4294

Meanwhile, the Duke Wrongful Convictions Clinic continues to investigate Chandler’s case.