Although a lawsuit against the city of Durham continues to weigh on the minds of city officials, the case that brought Durham national infamy has begun to lose its hold over city politics, professors said.
"I do not think that [the lawsuit] will greatly impact Durham's reputation any more than it already has," Professor Thomas Metzloff of the School of Law wrote in an e-mail. "People's impressions of Durham around the country were negatively impacted by the entire case and its handling by [former Durham County district attorney Mike] Nifong, but most people do not directly associate his misconduct with the city, even if it turns out that the city was more culpable than most people now believe."
James Coleman, a professor of law and frequent commentator on the case, pointed to last week's county-wide election as proof of the case's decreasing influence on voters.
"I see nothing that indicates that [lacrosse] was a factor," he said. "I think the contest was about personalities and partisan politics."
The re-election of Mayor Bill Bell and City Council members Eugene Brown and Diane Catotti could be interpreted as a show of approval by Durham's citizens of city officials' handling of the case, political science professor Paula McClain wrote in an e-mail.
"Every incumbent who ran has been re-elected," McClain said. "Therefore, there appears to have been little or no political fallout from the situation. In fact, the citizens of Durham have given their leaders a vote of confidence."
Kerry Haynie, associate professor of political science, added that lacrosse's time as an everyday issue in Durham has passed.
"It will be an issue that will get some news coverage, but the actual effect on the politics of Durham will be very little," he said. "I think it's an issue that will come and go."
The federal civil rights lawsuit, filed by the three former men's lacrosse players falsely accused of rape in 2006, could cost the city as much as $30 million.
Though it is possible that Durham will have to pay a considerable amount of money, Coleman said the sum would most likely not be as high as is being asked.
"There's going to be something of a backlash against the audacity of the litigation against the city and against the University," he said. "I think most people believe that the students were harmed by what happened to them but not to the extent that the lawsuits suggest."
Metzloff added that the lawsuits are not only about money, and said they are also intended to force changes in the way police and law officials handle cases-something that litigation is generally not very efficient at accomplishing.
Overall, however, he said most of the effects of the lawsuit have already taken their toll on the city.
Coleman said he anticipates a change in how Durham's law enforcement operates, adding that most changes would take place on the level of police and attorneys rather than with the mayor.
"You're going to see all over North Carolina changes in how prosecutors do business, particularly as a result of the lacrosse case," he said. "I don't think mayors are really affected by the lacrosse case because they don't have that much to do with law enforcement."
Still, Eugene Brown said the case will continue to pose a challenge for officials in the short term.
"It's on people's minds, voters' minds," he said. "Most people wish the whole damn thing would go away, but it's not."
Because of ongoing litigation against the city, Mayor Bill Bell declined to comment for this story.
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