That would be the problem in my eyes.
At the very least she made a false police report. Oh, and then she followed thru with the lie for a few months of investigation, trial, and sentencing. Then 10 years more.
It cost a man 10 years of his life.
People advocating no punishment for her at all, zero, are a large part of the problem.

 

-----signature-----

That's one way of looking at it and it is a perfectly reasonable view.

But, if the girl knew she might end up in jail if she finally confessed, she very likely wouldn't have confessed and he'd still be in jail. So, you have to weigh that in the equation, which is what the prosecutor did.

 

-----signature-----

If she knew that prison was a consequence maybe she wouldn't have lied and destroyed his life in the first place.

 

-----signature-----

What Groucho said.

The REAL problem is that a man can be sentenced to prison for over 15 years on a total fabrication.

There is no deterrent to lying. If a man can be sentenced on nothing more than the word of an 11 year old girl, what do you think the chance or interest is for catching that girl in a lie some years later? No chance, and less than no interest. In fact there is more interest in trying to make a recanting witness out to be a liar than there is in hearing that original testimony was a lie. Punishing her at age 23 for lying when she was 11 serves no real purpose other than some sort of vengeance, and would in fact make it less likely for other liars to come forward. That's just the truth of it.

Your perspective is consistent at least, I'll give you that, but punishing the woman now quite literally does absolutely nothing.

Again, the actual problem is that this guy was sentenced so harshly on basically no evidence whatsoever.

 

-----signature-----

I kept the parts I wanted to respond to.
Honestly I don't give a squirt of piss over this case specifically, and it is the larger effect it has on the public in general which is my concern.
So ignore the specifics of this woman being a child at the time. My concern is making sure we search for a cure or at least an improvement for this situation in general.
Duke rape case is simply high profile and well known. It can be any rape case it happens all the time. Hell, leave out the rape, make it any crime in general.
Lying in police reports and court testimony needs greater consequences than what we have now.

Risking a year in jail for perjury while trying to get a wrongful conviction on an enemy by lying where the accused faces life in prison?

 

-----signature-----

I agree with your premise, I honestly do, but this is kind of a special case really. Under pretty much any other circumstances I would support going after the liar.

She was 11 though and while she should have known not to lie, the fact is that a whole lot of adults just believed it, not particularly because she was believable, but because they WANTED TO believe her. This was a juicy "feel good" conviction for everyone that would play well in the press and make them all feel like they were doing something worthwhile in avenging the wrong done to this sweet, innocent little girl.

 

-----signature-----

There is a lot of evidence that kids are led into making gfalse accusatins about bad touches.

The rape and sexual harrasment stuff is insane, a lot of lies are thrown out. Its women doing what theyve always done - manipulation.

If you do the time, you should get to do the crime. The way I see it, he owes her an ol' fashion rapin'. If he won't do it, there should be a state-designated rapist.

 

-----signature-----

It should be a crime to wantonly refuse to enforce a law when it is your job to do so.

Put the district attorney in jail.

 

-----signature-----