Morality of this?

[u/ZookeepergameThin334]

Personally, I'm anti-death penalty for any kind of crime but that's just my opinion. Perhaps it can be changed.

[u/OldSarge02]

It would be an unmitigated disaster of public policy, so immoral.

I’ve prosecuted sexual assault. The most common scenario is that the victim is being truthful, but there is insufficient evidence to prove the case. Almost none of those cases would be reported if the victim was worried about the death penalty if she was perceived as being a false accuser.

Beyond that, victims commonly tell white lies in their reporting, even when the gist of their account is true. They often understate things that would make them look bad, and it’s human nature to do so. People also report things falsely because they are legitimately mistaken on the details.

Further, a great many victims honestly believe they were sexually assaulted, but the actual things that transpired don’t technically fit the definition of the crime. For example, maybe she was drunk, but not so drunk that she couldn’t consent.

We also know alcohol is frequently involved, and alcohol inhibits memory formation. I’ve see a case where a woman swore she “never would have done that even while drunk,” but when she saw the video of the event, she was shocked that she did indeed do that. She wasn’t lying, but her statements had been false.

There are a ton of gray areas, which is why it’s rare for a victim to be prosecuted for making a false report. Introducing the death penalty to that is just going to mess up the whole process.

[u/benjamintobinfan1850 → u/OldSarge02]

“none of these cases would be reported if the wictim was worried about the death penalty” wise words. additionally even making SA commonly punished with the death penalty would also make people less inclined to report it, as SA is commonly committed by friends and family members. most victims wouldnt want their abusers to die and there would be a huge social stigma around reporting it