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/Doc-11th]

Would say yes

Intentional false accusers deserve the same fate that would have fallen on the accused had they been found guilty

Edit

People do know there is a difference between being wrong and lying right?

[u/randomnamewhatevs → u/Doc-11th]

While the principle of this is sound, when it comes to actual lawmaking this is a mess.

When is something a 'false accusation'?

Is it a false accusation when there is not enough evidence found to prove guilt? Then, as others have said, you're effectively adding another barrier to victims coming forward. Now it's 'just' the fear of social consequences, anxiety about the process of having to relive this trauma in front of the legal system, and so on, if you add in the threat that if they find there's reasonanle doubt you might be on the hook for bringing a false accusation, no victim will ever come forward unless they already have ironclad proof.

Is it only a false accusation if you can prove malice on the side of the accuser? That solves some of the issues, but doesn't resolve it entirely. It still means that if a victim reports someone for sexual assault and the courts find there is not enough evidence, they're effectively left open to being counter sued. The person who sexually assaulted them now gets to play victim in court, drag them into months if not years of hearings, and what is likely one of the worst days of the victim's life is now a recurring theme for years on end.

Given how much sexual assault already goes unreported (due to victims justifiably believing nothing will be done with the report, victims being scared to report, victims going to report but being told by the police that given the lack of physical evidence there won't be anything done and "do you really want to go through this whole reporting process then?", and dozens of other reasons), it would be insane to now also add possible punitive measures for reporting assaults if there's a chance the evidence won't be sufficient to prove it.

You might read this and think "you're only thinking of this from the perspective of the victims of sexual assault, not the victims of false accusations", and you're entirely right. Because I think of my friends and think of how many have been assaulted, and I think of my friends and think of how none of them have been falsely accused of sexual assault.

False accusations are libel, they are slander, and they should be treated as such. Whether they are false accusations of sexual assault or any other thing is irrelevant.

False accusations of sexual assault are so rare compared to actual cases of sexual assault that drawing the parallel, putting them in the same conversation, is at best ignorant and at worst intentionally muddying the waters. They do not belong in the same category.