Crawl before you walk, goes the popular maxim. My variation for
columnists is: “You have to make sense before you make dollars.”
The most recent instance where opinion journalists arrived at the
truth way ahead of the reporters pounding the pavements was the
Duke Lacrosse case, now recast as the Mike Nifong case. The rest of
the world has finally caught up to my colleagues in vindicating the
students and vilifying the prosecutor. Ironically the coverage is
again in black and white — oops! — but now in the other
direction.
Between ourselves, we might take a moment to ponder some of the
nuances that elude the conventional wisdom.
There are insights to be gleaned here on the nature of
credibility. It becomes clear in this story that trustworthiness
needs to be husbanded. The Mishna says there are three crowns that
elevate a person’s stature, the crown of clergy, the crown of
public office and the crown of scholarship. Then it adds a
postscript: “But the crown of a good reputation exceeds them
all.”
Let us begin with the complainant. We know she hires herself out
as a stripper to entertain at parties. We know she has children out
of wedlock. We know she drinks and takes drugs. We don’t know if
she engages in actual prostitution. Now, does this girl deserve the
protection of society against corporal assault and degradation?
Absolutely. But can we be as effective in delivering this service
as we can to a woman who works as an executive or as a secretary?
Absolutely not.
That may be an uncomfortable fact, but no less true for that.
When you engage in illegal activities involving other people, with
those others being stimulated by various substances and images that
erode self-control, you are assuming increased risk. If someone
present decides to ratchet up the crime level beyond your comfort
zone, even if you are only a witness and not a victim, it becomes
difficult to put your foot down. If you try to summon the
authorities, or your bouncer from outside, you may be restrained.
If you do get the police, they may arrest you along with, or
instead of, the offending party.
Putting ourselves in the cops’ place, we can see how treacherous
a territory that is to navigate. Who do you believe? First you look
for blood, for bruises, for scratch marks. When those are not
present, then what? So we want to protect this girl from the
blended consequences of her folly and the viciousness of others,
but we can only do so much. And although Nifong went outrageously
overboard before he sunk, future prosecutors of high integrity will
be reluctant to pursue like scenarios.
The “he” side of this he-said-she-said also suffers from a
curtailed credibility. It is a much easier sell to say “I would
never hurt a woman” if you do not have to preface that with
“Although I do for entertainment purposes hire a woman to disrobe
while I sit there inebriated and make crudely complimentary remarks
about her anatomy…” Every line you cross in behavior is a line
you surrender in credibility.
The Talmud tells a tragic story about a Yeshiva student who had
to use the outhouse on his way home from prayers. It was considered
disrespectful to bring phylacteries inside, so he left his outside
on a ledge. A prostitute noticed and stole them before he came back
out. She then went to his Yeshiva as a prank and told the dean:
“One of your students engaged my services and gave me these as
payment.” The young man was so humiliated, he went up to the roof
and jumped to his death. Afterward, the rule was changed, and
people were permitted to bag the phylacteries and take them in.
We all feel for the Duke kids and their families, and it is
wonderful to see them deservedly exonerated, but they are hardly in
the class of that humble student long ago. High-class behavior is
more than an affectation, as was thought in the 1930s, or an
inhibition, as was thought in the 1960s. It is a strategy for
conducting the transactions of life in a zone where trust can
prevail, and only where there is trust can there be security. If
you lie down with dogs you get up with fleas, goes the popular
maxim. My variation for columnists is: “If you look for the leaks,
you may wind up in hot water.”
