Michael B. Nifong, the district attorney in Durham, N.C., took the stand to defend his law license after his failed crusade to convict innocent Duke University lacrosse players of gang rape.

Upon being disbarred for "dishonesty, fraud, deceit and misrepresentation," he had no more success with his own defense, was suspended from his job last week and now faces a possible lawsuit in civil court. Is this rare or the course? Nifong's misconduct was not really rare.

Some high-profile cases in history have involved similar acts of prosecutorial abuse. The worst violators are often rewarded for their aggressive styles -- maybe offered with a cable television show.

Nifong is a good example of the weird effect of high-profile cases on a prosecutor's judgment and sense of decency. Even before the players were indicted, the district attorney had played to the passions surrounding a black stripper's allegations that she had been raped by affluent white college boys. Nifong inappropriately called the Duke players "a bunch of hooligans'' and essentially promised that he would not allow "Durham in the mind of the world to be a bunch of lacrosse players from Duke raping a black girl in Durham."

The accuser kept changing her story, and there was no evidence of a gang rape. So this prosecutor had to make decisions in light of proof issues. In addition to his prejudicial comments, Nifong was accused of withholding test results showing that DNA found on the woman's body and underwear came from at least four unknown males -- but none of the 46 lacrosse team members.

Nifong is not the first prosecutor who, in his words, "got carried away" in the glare of television lights. History has repeatedly seen such "great prosecutors" convicting the innocent to satisfy the public. Prosecutors are sworn to protect the rights of the accused as well as the accuser, to refuse to pursue cases that would not serve the interests of justice. Yet in today's environment, it appears that prosecutors can never be too tough, the way models can never be too skinny.

Nifong's disbarment may deter some prosecutorial abuse, but until less visible cases are subjected to more scrutiny, it may prove to be an isolated event -- driven by the same publicity that led to the abuse in the first place. If the case hadn't been so high-profile, it's doubtful that Nifong would have been charged, let alone disbarred, for his misconduct. The Duke case should teach us that a truly fair criminal justice system must strive to protect the rights of the accused as vigorously as it does those of the accuser. Bottom Line: Many Prosecutors Go Too Far, Many Get Away With It.