In June, Helen asked why the Times has been paying so much attention to Duke lacrosse and so little to Rene Portland. Part of the answer has to do with its inexplicable (or all too explicable) obsession with the former, and its inability to get off a bad story. Stuart Taylor explains.

So what's up with Harris v. Portland? Not much. Or at least not much public.

Earlier this summer, all parties in the case agreed to a confidentiality agreement under Rule 26, which allows courts to keep discovery materials private to avoid "annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden or expense." The agreement assures that much of the discovery material — most notably the deposition testimony — will be kept out of the press.

NCLR has been winning the PR battle hands down. So why would it agree to keep so much potentially damaging info about Rene private?

On possibility is that NCLR wants to keep potentially damaging info about Jen private. Even if Harris's allegations are true, there might well be aspects of her time at Penn State that she doesn't want repeated in the press. Another possibility is that certain witnesses (on both sides) don't want details about their sexuality made public.

In any event, for now we'll just have to wait and wonder what is going on in the depo room. We will keep monitoring the case, and if anything happens, we'll let you know.