Dateline Durham, NC:

A judge ordered Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong on Monday night to leave his duties immediately after he was disbarred for his misconduct in the Duke University rape case.

The veteran prosecutor had announced earlier in the day he would leave July 13. But that wasn’t soon enough for Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson, who decided to immediately suspend Nifong from office.

As part of the suspension, Hudson said he would order the sheriff to prevent Nifong from carrying out any duties of the district attorney.

More Nifong coverage.

In related news, as you’ve probably already heard, Duke has settled with the innocent lacrosse players that the school’s faculty so recklessly smeared:

Duke University has reached a settlement with each of the three former lacrosse players and their families.

The university made the announcement this afternoon.

According to a press release issued by Duke, the terms of the settlement will not be disclosed.

In a statement, Duke officials said the board of trustees and Duke President Richard Brodhead had determined that it was in the best interests of the Duke community to eliminate the possibility of future litigation and move forward

“This past year has been hard for many people who care about Duke — for students, faculty, staff, alumni, families and friends — and for the three students and their families most of all,” the Duke statement said. “We resolve to bring the Duke family together again, and to work to protect others from similar injustices in the criminal justice system in the future. “

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Update: Michael Gaynor is not a fan of Judge Hudson.

K.C. Johnson continues to chronicle Durham-in-Wonderland.

Reader Jerry e-mails a reminder about the other Duke rape case that didn’t make national news.

And Thomas Sowell weighs in on unfinished business:

The disbarment of Durham District Attorney Michael Nifong should be just the first step in remedying the gross and cynical fraud of last year’s “rape” case against Duke University lacrosse players.

Not only is Nifong still liable to civil lawsuits from the three young men whose lives he tried to ruin, and criminal prosecution for his obstruction of justice and making false statements to a judge, there are many other people who disgraced themselves in hyping a lynch mob atmosphere when this case first broke last year.

The New York Times, which splashed these Duke students’ pictures on the front page, along with inflammatory charges against them, and went ballistic on its editorial page, carried the story of Nifong’s disbarment for prosecuting them on page 16.

The 88 Duke University faculty members who took out a hysterical ad, supporting those local loudmouths who were denouncing and threatening the Duke students, have apparently had nothing at all to say now.

Not only did many Duke University professors join the lynch mob atmosphere, so did the Duke University administration, which got rid of the lacrosse coach and cancelled the team’s season, without a speck of evidence that anybody was guilty of anything.

This is one of the few times when Jesse Jackson is speechless, even though he was loudly supporting the bogus “rape” charges last year.

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