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“A masterful examination of the pathetic rush to judgment in the Duke rape case.” —John Grisham

The full story of the Duke Lacrosse case, by the authors who broke it

          In this American tragedy, Stuart Taylor, Jr., and KC Johnson argue, law enforcement, a campaigning prosecutor, biased journalists, and left-leaning academics repeatedly refused to pursue the truth while scapegoats were made of these young men, recklessly tarnishing their lives.
          Until Proven Innocent is the only book that covers all five aspects of the case (personal, legal, academic, political, and media) in a comprehensive fashion. It is also the only book to include interviews with all three of the defendants, their families, and their legal teams. And now it includes an up-to-date epilogue detailing the aftershocks and conclusion of the case.
          Taylor and Johnson’s coverage of the Duke case was the earliest, most honest, and most comprehensive in the country, and here they take on the idiocies and dishonesty of right- and left-wingers alike, shedding new light on the danger of a cultural tendency toward media-fueled travesties of justice. The context of the Duke case has vast import, and in its full telling, it is captivating nonfiction with broad political, racial, and cultural relevance to our times.

“Taylor and Johnson have made a gripping contribution to the literature of the wrongly accused.” —The New York Times Book Review

“Until Proven Innocent is a stunning book.” —The Wall Street Journal

“Vivid, at times chilling . . . their most biting scorn is aimed at the ‘academic McCarthyism’ that they say has infected top-rate American universities like Duke.” —Newsweek

“A superb new book . . . a book that not only reads like a legal thriller, but also exposes deep problems with America’s legal system and academic culture.” —The Economist

Customer Reviews (85)

PC Racism
How sad it is that is okay in our society to be a prejudiced, biased bigot if your target is a white male.End result is the duke administration, the faculty, community, media, and Law enforcement pre judged these boys because of their race, gender, and economic status.

When folks profile and pre judge a minority, it is wrong. But our society doesn't mind if racism is in play against the white male.

This book is very well researched and written.My only complaint is I thought the final chapter talking about how the academic world only hires lefty liberals seemed redundant and unnecessary.

excellent expose
This book is a well-documented exposure of the hypocrisy of he political left and what political correctness is doing to our country.

The Main Question Goes Unanswered--AGAIN
There really is only one question the "innocent boys" on the Duke Lacrosse Team fail to answer:What exactly was an African-American prostitute doing at the party in the first place? And to those who call these boys innocent, isn't it illegal to hire a prostitute?Is this "typical college boy behavior?" Many college boys would never contemplate such an act on moral grounds. Others would not have the means. The fact these "innocent boys" not only thought this would be appropriate behavior but easily came up with the funds demonstrates those who thought this was a racist act by a group of boys oblivious to the class and race issues involved were not so far off the mark.Whether the woman lied or not (I think she did not) is one issue.Whether the boys were the innocent little angels portrayed in this book is an entirely separate question. The woman's behavior is separate from the boy's behavior. The boys have never fully accounted for what motivated them to hire her, let her in the door, and what their intentions actually were.Nor were they, it seemed, ever asked by the author or anyone else too quick to blame the woman, the administration, the DA, the police, society and everyone besides the boys who opened their wallets. I'd rather read the life story of Bingo the Flying Monkey.

Still Waiting
I ordered the book for my father for Christmas. It turned out that he already had the same book so I checked with the seller and he said I could return it. I mailed it back immediately and have been waiting for a month for a refund. I have sent two e-mails and was assured that the refund was being processed on January 11th. It is now the 26th and I have seen no refund. On the positive side, the seller was very prompt in getting the book to me originally and even threw in an extra book as a bonus. If the return and refund had gone more smoothly, I would have had no problem recommending this seller wholeheartedly.

pretty mind-blowing
I got a lot out of this book.The reason I'm giving it only three stars is that in doing so I'm attempting to distinguish between my monumental sense of things finally being righted (the evildoers exposed, the just exonerated, etc.) from what is just Taylor and Johnson's retelling of the affair in this book.

What I mean is that it's tempting to award five stars for something that, when you get right down to it, is no more than my personal feeling of grand satisfaction with the way the affair turned out, the way one is reassured at the end of most of Shakespeare's tragedies.But when I cast a more skeptical eye at the way this book introduces, covers, and resolves the Duke scandal, I must aver the following shortcomings:

1.There are no footnotes!I understand this would have added a whopping section at the end, but considering that the authors frequently write things like "sources claim that" and "according to one witness," their not listing their sources must be accounted a major defect.There were several times reading this where I wanted to track down a primary source the authors referred to, but since there's zilch for a reference section, I didn't even know where to begin.Even a crummy Wikipedia article is better sourced than this text.
2.Lord, there were a lot of people involved in this:hundreds and hundreds.There should have been a glossary, or list of characters, or something at the end with the basic facts about each one for ready review.Instead, dozens of pages after introducing a character, the authors think nothing of referring to him again merely by his last name, causing no end of confusion.This should have been seen to somehow.
3.Another reviewer notes that this book is "repetitive."Yup.Could have been a lot shorter.I can't see any need for the last three chapters, for example.
4.This book needed about five times more pictures than it had.Why were they so stingy in this regard?
5.But the biggest problem I saw was a more systemic one with the way the book was apparently written.From what I could make out, the authors were bloggers who, after the dust had settled on the case, went back into their archives and pieced the text together.Because if you take this as investigative journalism, it's awfully lazy.There appear to be very few in-person interviews:instead the authors merely shoot off emails here and there.Key locales in the story were apparently never personally visited by the authors in person.This book is pretty impressive for being built of internet searches, emails, and phone calls, but I got the feeling there was a lot more they could have done.

Despite all this, I feel somewhat guilty awarding only three stars:it really shook me up and amazed me.Any book like that would normally get five.

Incidentally, this book helped to cement my relief that I never became a college professor, something many people enjoined me to do when I was younger.Reading about the shameful antics of the Duke faculty, I'm doubly grateful now I never entered the academy.What looniness! ... Read more

4. Lacrosse Firestorm (Matt Christopher Sports Fiction) by Matt Christopher, Stephanie Peters
	Paperback: 144 Pages (2008-04-01) list price: US$4.99 -- used & new: US$1.21 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 0316016314 Canada \| United Kingdom \| Germany \| France \| Japan
Editorial Review Product Description It's early summer, and things are really heating up between Garry Wallis, star of Lacrosse Face-Off, and his nemesis, Michael Donofrio. At the end of last season, Garry sabotaged Michael's chances of becoming the league's top scorer. Now Michael is taking his revenge. He's got plenty of opportunity, too, for the Rockets are taking part in a week-long lacrosse tournament held at an overnight camp. Garry tries to ignore Michael, but the bullying finally gets to him-and what happens next sets off a string of near-disasters that finds Garry in the heart of a firestorm . . . This latest installment in Matt Christopher's bestselling series combines all the lacrosse action and mystery his fans crave. ... Read more

17. Until Proven Innocent: Political Correctness and the Shameful Injustices of the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case by Stuart Taylor Jr., KC Johnson
	Paperback: 464 Pages (2008-09-30) list price: US$15.95 -- used & new: US$6.38 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: B002LITS7K Average Customer Review: Canada \| United Kingdom \| Germany \| France \| Japan
Editorial Review Product Description “A masterful examination of the pathetic rush to judgment in the Duke rape case.” —John Grisham The full story of the Duke Lacrosse case, by the authors who broke it In this American tragedy, Stuart Taylor, Jr., and KC Johnson argue, law enforcement, a campaigning prosecutor, biased journalists, and left-leaning academics repeatedly refused to pursue the truth while scapegoats were made of these young men, recklessly tarnishing their lives. Until Proven Innocent is the only book that covers all five aspects of the case (personal, legal, academic, political, and media) in a comprehensive fashion. It is also the only book to include interviews with all three of the defendants, their families, and their legal teams. And now it includes an up-to-date epilogue detailing the aftershocks and conclusion of the case. Taylor and Johnson’s coverage of the Duke case was the earliest, most honest, and most comprehensive in the country, and here they take on the idiocies and dishonesty of right- and left-wingers alike, shedding new light on the danger of a cultural tendency toward media-fueled travesties of justice. The context of the Duke case has vast import, and in its full telling, it is captivating nonfiction with broad political, racial, and cultural relevance to our times. “Taylor and Johnson have made a gripping contribution to the literature of the wrongly accused.” —The New York Times Book Review “Until Proven Innocent is a stunning book.” —The Wall Street Journal “Vivid, at times chilling . . . their most biting scorn is aimed at the ‘academic McCarthyism’ that they say has infected top-rate American universities like Duke.” —Newsweek “A superb new book . . . a book that not only reads like a legal thriller, but also exposes deep problems with America’s legal system and academic culture.” —The Economist ... Read more Customer Reviews (85) PC Racism How sad it is that is okay in our society to be a prejudiced, biased bigot if your target is a white male.End result is the duke administration, the faculty, community, media, and Law enforcement pre judged these boys because of their race, gender, and economic status. When folks profile and pre judge a minority, it is wrong. But our society doesn't mind if racism is in play against the white male. This book is very well researched and written.My only complaint is I thought the final chapter talking about how the academic world only hires lefty liberals seemed redundant and unnecessary. excellent expose This book is a well-documented exposure of the hypocrisy of he political left and what political correctness is doing to our country. The Main Question Goes Unanswered--AGAIN There really is only one question the "innocent boys" on the Duke Lacrosse Team fail to answer:What exactly was an African-American prostitute doing at the party in the first place? And to those who call these boys innocent, isn't it illegal to hire a prostitute?Is this "typical college boy behavior?" Many college boys would never contemplate such an act on moral grounds. Others would not have the means. The fact these "innocent boys" not only thought this would be appropriate behavior but easily came up with the funds demonstrates those who thought this was a racist act by a group of boys oblivious to the class and race issues involved were not so far off the mark.Whether the woman lied or not (I think she did not) is one issue.Whether the boys were the innocent little angels portrayed in this book is an entirely separate question. The woman's behavior is separate from the boy's behavior. The boys have never fully accounted for what motivated them to hire her, let her in the door, and what their intentions actually were.Nor were they, it seemed, ever asked by the author or anyone else too quick to blame the woman, the administration, the DA, the police, society and everyone besides the boys who opened their wallets. I'd rather read the life story of Bingo the Flying Monkey. Still Waiting I ordered the book for my father for Christmas. It turned out that he already had the same book so I checked with the seller and he said I could return it. I mailed it back immediately and have been waiting for a month for a refund. I have sent two e-mails and was assured that the refund was being processed on January 11th. It is now the 26th and I have seen no refund. On the positive side, the seller was very prompt in getting the book to me originally and even threw in an extra book as a bonus. If the return and refund had gone more smoothly, I would have had no problem recommending this seller wholeheartedly. pretty mind-blowing I got a lot out of this book.The reason I'm giving it only three stars is that in doing so I'm attempting to distinguish between my monumental sense of things finally being righted (the evildoers exposed, the just exonerated, etc.) from what is just Taylor and Johnson's retelling of the affair in this book. What I mean is that it's tempting to award five stars for something that, when you get right down to it, is no more than my personal feeling of grand satisfaction with the way the affair turned out, the way one is reassured at the end of most of Shakespeare's tragedies.But when I cast a more skeptical eye at the way this book introduces, covers, and resolves the Duke scandal, I must aver the following shortcomings: 1.There are no footnotes!I understand this would have added a whopping section at the end, but considering that the authors frequently write things like "sources claim that" and "according to one witness," their not listing their sources must be accounted a major defect.There were several times reading this where I wanted to track down a primary source the authors referred to, but since there's zilch for a reference section, I didn't even know where to begin.Even a crummy Wikipedia article is better sourced than this text. 2.Lord, there were a lot of people involved in this:hundreds and hundreds.There should have been a glossary, or list of characters, or something at the end with the basic facts about each one for ready review.Instead, dozens of pages after introducing a character, the authors think nothing of referring to him again merely by his last name, causing no end of confusion.This should have been seen to somehow. 3.Another reviewer notes that this book is "repetitive."Yup.Could have been a lot shorter.I can't see any need for the last three chapters, for example. 4.This book needed about five times more pictures than it had.Why were they so stingy in this regard? 5.But the biggest problem I saw was a more systemic one with the way the book was apparently written.From what I could make out, the authors were bloggers who, after the dust had settled on the case, went back into their archives and pieced the text together.Because if you take this as investigative journalism, it's awfully lazy.There appear to be very few in-person interviews:instead the authors merely shoot off emails here and there.Key locales in the story were apparently never personally visited by the authors in person.This book is pretty impressive for being built of internet searches, emails, and phone calls, but I got the feeling there was a lot more they could have done. Despite all this, I feel somewhat guilty awarding only three stars:it really shook me up and amazed me.Any book like that would normally get five. Incidentally, this book helped to cement my relief that I never became a college professor, something many people enjoined me to do when I was younger.Reading about the shameful antics of the Duke faculty, I'm doubly grateful now I never entered the academy.What looniness! ... Read more

19. Lacrosse Attack (Impact Books: Jake Maddox Sports Stories) by Maddox, Jake
	Paperback: 72 Pages (2008-09-01) list price: US$5.95 -- used & new: US$2.47 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 1434208729 Canada \| United Kingdom \| Germany \| France \| Japan
Editorial Review Product Description Peter made the varsity lacrosse team, just like his best friends said he would.In fact, the coach thinks he's one of the best on the team.But Hurley Johnson, the team's captain, doesn't want Peter to take his spot.He'll stop at nothing to make Peter quit.Will Peter give up? ... Read more

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