[–] corsairio 1 point 3 points 4 points (+4|-1) ago (edited ago)
Hear me out here...
It's not like I want random people to make accusations that aren't backed up by anything. But we should tread cautiously about whether these accusations should be indictable. I think it infringes upon freedom of speech. The fact that there are defamation laws is problematic enough, but making it so that people are afraid of using the court system in case they fail is going to allow powerful people even more leeway to get away with crimes.
EDIT:
Since I am the top post...
There are people that want false accusations of rape to be a punishable offense. They are using this case as a flagship.
But not only do they want to make a legal accusation illegal, they also want to make contacting journalists illegal. This is unnacceptable. Think of all those people that get raped by high level officials, as in the pedophile rings that every now and then get uncovered in the UK or DC.
For instance:
http://radaronline.com/exclusives/2015/01/royal-sex-scandal-prince-andrew-pedophile-flight-logs/
These people run the courts. What recourse could you have as a woman or girl when you've been raped by the people that are supposed to bring justice? Why should we play into their hands and allow them to not only not grant them justice, but punish them if they ever seek it? If you cannot go to the courts, and you cannot go to the journalists, what is a girl supposed to do? We should not close the doors with which we can fight back against the establishment... we should be opening them. Stand with freedom of speech.
Nope. If you damage someone's reputation, and they can prove you were lying, then I see no problem with you being required to pay them back every cent they lost because of your lies.
False accusations of rape are already a punishable offence. What needs to happen is for those laws to be actually enforced and sentencing to be balanced to the point where those found guilty receive the same sentences they attempted to impose on someone else.
If it's possible for these conditions to affect innocent people, then that means that the rules of evidence we have for criminal cases are far far too lax and need to be tightened up. And I have no doubt they will be because people don't care until it happens to a woman.
[–] mguzmann 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
You are making nonsensical claims. News organizations should not be allowed to blatantly lie about other people, specially if those lies damage the person's reputation. If that were the case, nothing would prevent all newspapers from publishing stories accusing YOU of, say, child rape. You would be completely powerless to do anything about that, and would probably be lynched for it. There is a real issue of what constitutes slander, and it is often abused, no discussion there. But getting completely rid of it would be madness.
[–] ArchVile 1 point 0 points 1 point (+1|-1) ago
How is this going to make people afraid of using the court system? One of the most damning parts of this is Jackie's lack of cooperation with police. She avoided the legal system (I would, too if I were making shit up). If anything, the lesson here is to at least try the legal system before turning to click-bait "journalists" if you have been the victim of a crime.
There are people that want false accusations of rape to be a punishable offense. They are using this case as a flagship.
But it is good you bring this up, because we should also not make people afraid of getting in touch with journalists. Think of all those people that get raped by high level officials, as in the pedophile rings that every now and then get uncovered in the UK or DC.
For instance:
http://radaronline.com/exclusives/2015/01/royal-sex-scandal-prince-andrew-pedophile-flight-logs/
These people run the courts. What recourse could you have as a woman or girl when you've been raped by the people that are supposed to bring justice? Why should we play into their hands and allow them to not only not grant them justice, but punish them if they ever seek it?
[–] hungryasabear 0 points 10 points 10 points (+10|-0) ago
This is more about the magazine publishing things as fact when they were incorrect or made up. It hurts everyone involved, including the college, the frat, AND the victim. I'm not a lawyer, but this seems to be a perfect example of libel. Rolling Stone is in a position of influence and credibility (a point I'm sure people will dispute) and with that position, there is a responsibility to do the right thing. In this case, the responsible thing would have been doing the research, conducting interviews, basic fact checking, etc. before publishing what they had. What they did was damaging to everyone involved and they need to be held accountable.
[–] corsairio ago (edited ago)
I'm saying that the entire notion of libel as an action with legal recourse goes against the first amendment, and is used by the establishment to keep down dissenters. I don't think Rolling Stone sells itself as an organization with true journalistic integrity, either.
[–] audiomoddified 1 point 0 points 1 point (+1|-1) ago
Let's sue instead of discussing why people thought that the story was possibly true...great idea.
[–] mscomies [S] 0 points 7 points 7 points (+7|-0) ago (edited ago)
The way they were partying, that frat was just asking for someone to accuse them of rape. Lets blame the victim instead of the liar who fabricated the rape accusation or the publication that refuses to discipline any of their staff for writing a libelous, agenda driven story!
[–] JesusofBorg 0 points 4 points 4 points (+4|-0) ago
"Let's press charges instead of finding out if the rape even happened!".
Sound familiar?
[–] binky ago
right.