I was pleased to read the headline "Woman Sentenced for Lying About Rape" but unfortunately it's wrong, because the woman was actually sentenced for rape herself, not merely a false accusation.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- A woman who gained national notoriety for writing a book about being raped, then abandoning her newborn in a college trash been has been sentenced to prison for being the rapist in the case.Twyana Davis, 30, claimed in 1995 that she had been raped, appeared on television shows to tell her story.
She also formed a nonprofit group aimed to prevent teen pregnancies and provide alternatives for young mothers who didn't want to keep their babies.
But she also was harboring a secret: She wasn't raped. She was the rapist, Franklin County prosecutors said.
As I've written in the past about rape accusations, women who lie about being raped should face the same punishment they hoped to visit upon their victim. More generally, I think anyone who knowingly falsely accuses someone of a crime should be punished similarly.
I agree she is a piece of crap, but we do need to open a conversation the meaning of rape and sexual predation. Mark Foley's 16, 17, 18 year old boys are not children. 15 year old Davis and her 12 year old cousin screwing may not be rape. I personaly know 2 women who gave birth before they were 16 and lived wonderful lives.
What you are doing is raising the risk of the accuser. Sure, that will tend to put off false acusers, but it will also tend to put off true acusers. You need to find a balance in the disincentives so as to maximize the number of successful prosecutions of the guilty and minimize the number of prosecutions of the innocent. I'm not convinced that your suggestion is the right balance.
DR: Don't forget that a prosecutor would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the accusation was made falsely. That's a pretty high bar, and it certainly wouldn't prevent women from making accusations in cases where the rape was merely doubtful.