Friday Notes

After the publication of Abigail Thernstrom,"The Massacre of Innocence: A stunning new book shows how elite culture made the Duke rape hoax possible," WSJ, 6 September (free link), a review of Until Proven Innocent: Political Correctness and the Shameful Injustices of the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case by Stuart Taylor and our colleague, KC Johnson, the book rose to #25 at Amazon. Stuart Taylor, Jr., and KC Johnson,"Guilty in the Duke Case," Washington Post, 7 September, may drive the book even higher on Amazon's list. Until Proven Innocent's website includes a link to the complete Source Notes. Thanks to Jonathan Dresner for the tip.

From its inception, the Duke lacrosse case has featured dueling elites. While it doesn't have dueling elites, the Kenny Brewer case at Macon, Mississippi may trump Duke lacrosse for prosecutorial misconduct. A mildly mentally handicapped day laborer, Kenny Brewer, has spent 15 years in jail for the rape and murder of three year old Christine Jackson. When DNA evidence at the crime scene was found not to match his, Brewer was released from Mississippi's death row. The prosecutor in rural Nuxobee County made no attempt to match the DNA to the state's DNA database. Kenny Brewer will face yet another trial for the rape and murder of the little girl. Hat tip.

Bryan Appleyard and Eric Rauchway review John Gray's Black Mass: Apocalyptic Religion and the Death of Utopia.

Thomas Bartlett,"Psychologists, Under a Historian's Lens," CHE, 7 September (subscriber only), looks at the controversy aroused by Alfred McCoy's A Question of Torture: CIA Inter­rogation From the Cold War to the War on Terror. McCoy argues that two prominent psychologists, Donald Hebb and Stanley Milgram, collaborated with the CIA. His claims are disputed.

John Quiggen,"Wikkipedia at 2 Million," Crooked Timber, 6 September, assesses Wikkipedia's accomplishment and flaws at an important benchmark.