Why the grave miscarriage of justice against the three innocent Duke lacrosse players? Because Mike Nifong had an election to win.

The district attorney in charge of the Duke University lacrosse rape case told the North Carolina State Bar he failed to turn over evidence favoring the defense because he was busy campaigning for office, a disciplinary panel was told Thursday.

Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong told bar investigators that as he faced "an unprecedented number of challengers" in his first election campaign, "I was not always able to give the case my full attention."

Nifong cited his campaign in a letter to the bar as one of several reasons that "may possibly have contributed to my inadvertent failure to provide the evidence in question." Portions of the letter were read aloud at the third day of a trial in Raleigh that will determine if Nifong will lose his license to practice law.

Unfit.

Unprofessional.

Unethical.

Mike Nifong needs to be disbarred, and then tried for civil rights violations against these three young men.