Re: Bad idea: Punishing false rape accusers

[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Dee Fish out of Korea) wrote in message news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Magic Nose Goblin) wrote in message news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
> > [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Kate Orman) wrote in message news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
> > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Rich) wrote in message news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
> > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Kate Orman) wrote in message news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
>  
> > > > > If it's not against the law to make a false report to the police, then 
> > > > > how are these charges being laid?
>  
> > > > When such charges are laid, they are for crimes against the state
> > > > (just ask Laurie). Specifically things like perjury, or in the
> > > > UK either 'wasting police time' or 'perverting the course of justice'.
> > > > 
> > > > The accused man is not in any way a part of the proceedings, much
> > > > less as the victim of a crime, and the charges are for a misdemeanor,
> > > > not a felony.
> > > 
> > > I see what you (and Daran) are getting at - false *accusations*, in 
> > > which a specific person is maliciously identified as the perpetrator, 
> > > as opposed to false *allegations*, in which a specific perpetrator may 
> > > or may not be identified (as in the cases posted). It's an extremely 
> > > important distinction, and I ought to have spotted it myself.
> > > 
> > > I suspect whether making a false report is a misdemeanour or a felony 
> > > varies, perhaps from state to state; the liars in Kanin's study were 
> > > told they would be charged with a felony. It'd be interesting to learn 
> > > whether maliciously accusing someone of (for example) theft attracts 
> > > criminal charges.
> > > 
> > > While I'm far from an expert on law, I'd have little objection to a 
> > > specific crime of false accusation, as long as rape was not the only 
> > > crime it applied to. Not only is a false accusation a vicious 
> > > injustice, but it hands woman-haters and rapists more ammunition 
> > > for their quest to smear all rape victims as "lying bitches".
> > > 
> > > However, I've seen no good evidence that false reports are a large 
> > > proportion of reports, and false accusations are only a proportion 
> > > of false reports. When women do lie, it's not usually out of malice:
> > 
> > According to a FEMALE spokeswoman for the NYC DA's office,
> > 40% of their rape accusations are subsequently recanted.
> > and
> > 40% of their rape accusations are DISPROVEN upon investigation.
> > 
> > No mention was made of how many recantings take place after
> > the police disprove the accusation.
> > 
> > And of course, there will always be the false accusation which
> > is neither recanted, nor disproven...which means there are EVEN
> > MORE false accusations then what these figures show.
> > 
> > 
> > So, at least in NYC, the DA's statistics show that AT LEAST
> > 40% to 80% of all rape accusations are false False FALSE!
> 
> 
> 
> Not necessarily. Rape accusations may be recanted, but still arise
> from a bona-fide rape.


If the police have any evidence that the rape DID take place, then
the DA's will prosecute despite her, and put her on the stand as a
hostile witness.


> The same as domestic violence accusations may
> be recanted, but still arise from a real situation of abuse.

Let's not forget that over 50% of domestic abuse is committed by women.

> 
> DFooK