Admittedly, if there were proof of any kind, then he should be applauded for being so dogged in his prosecution. Having been found to have backed the wrong horse, he’s decided to take the Bush approach to his job — forge ahead as if you’re right even after everyone else has proven you wrong.

The Duke rape case prosecutor must be stopped.

Of all the strange, shoot-self-in-foot statements from Durham, N.C., District Attorney Mike Nifong in the last few days—and there are so many—one stands out. In explaining why he is continuing to prosecute three former Duke lacrosse players on kidnapping and sexual offense charges—despite dropping rape charges—Nifong told the New York Times, “If she says, yes, it’s them, or one or two of them, I have an obligation to put that to a jury.” Nifong is talking about the woman who says she was attacked in the bathroom after being hired to dance at a lacrosse-team party last March. In other words, the district attorney is claiming that as long as she continues to accuse any of the Duke guys, he must press charges against them. That’s so basic a misunderstanding of his own job that it raises questions about whether he is even qualified to hold it.

Prosecutors don’t have an obligation to take a professed victim’s accusations to a jury. They have an obligation to listen to her story, test it against the other evidence, and then decide whether to move ahead. This is the root of prosecutorial discretion. Victims don’t decide when to press charges in criminal cases. District attorneys do.

“You can’t make everybody back away from a fight,” Nifong says. Well, actually, if you’re the prosecutor, you can. In fact, it’s your job.