Disgraced and disbarred former Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong has declared bankruptcy in the face of hundreds of millions of dollars in claims against him arising out of his mishandling of the Duke Rape Case. I thought this would be a good time to re-post an article I wrote when it all started. I wrote this in Dec 2006 when he dropped the charges against the players.AN OPEN LETTER TO MIKE NIFONGDear Mike:I love Law and Order, don’t you? Jack McCoy is my idol. Isn’t he yours? I have every episode ever broadcast Tivo’d. I am sure you do too. I think I could have bypassed law school and just watched Jack McCoy prepare and try cases. I would pass the bar and be the best trial attorney ever! Isn’t that what you did? I love Jack! He wins the great majority of his cases, and certainly all his rape cases! He withholds evidence from the defense and walks away without as much as a slap on the wrist! He lies to witnesses and defendants and it is okay! Jack makes inflammatory comments not supported by the evidence to the media and he is a hero for it! His trial arguments are often emotional and not based on any evidence, but no one objects and he gets the conviction! Wait, there is a catch here. Sam Waterston, who plays Jack McCoy, is an actor – not an attorney. Sam Waterston, after committing all those terrible legal sins every episode, gets to go home to his wife and kids every night and read his script for his next episode. Sam Waterston did not take an oath to the Supreme Court of New York to uphold the law. Sam Waterston is not bound by any legal canons of ethics. Sam Waterston is a real person; Jack McCoy is not!I wonder if the State Bar of North Carolina will remind you of that when they yank your law license. Thanks for listening, Mike. There is a new episode of Law and Order on right now so I need to go. Maybe I will pick up some new trial techniques.