Judicial Irony: Ex-Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong Sentenced to Jail

Who could have ever imagined this ever happening when the Duke Lacrosse Rape case was first announced? A case where Mike Nifong trumpeted that members of the Duke Lacrosse team were guilty of rape has turned into Former DA Mike Nifong was sentenced to spend time in the very jail that he was looking to send innocent people to. Nifong’s willfull and intentional actions are now coming home to roost.

The irony is not lost in the fact that Ex-Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifongwillfully winds up in the very jail that he was so determined to put others in, no matter what the cost, the facts or the law. From those actions came ethics and disbarment. Add a day in jail to that list as well. Nifong’s broken career continues as the punishments continue to be handed down for his despicable actions during the Duke Lacrosse rape case. 

Superior Court Judge W. Osmond Smith III could have sentenced Nifong, who had already been stripped of his law license and had resigned from office, to as many as 30 days in jail and given him a fine as high as $500. Instead, he opted for a largely symbolic punishment – the public humiliation of sending a prosecutor to jail – that he said would help protect the integrity of the justice system.