• ReallyKinda@kbin.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    70
    ·
    edit-2
    9 months ago

    google says the incident was in 2002 and the reneg in 2011 (cleared in 2012) so it seems like she’d have to be 16 at time of accusation, courts took a few years to actually jail him, and she would be about 25 when she came clean. It says the statute of limitations for lying in court was passed by the time he was cleared, so no chance for a counter-suit or he would have pursued* it. The accuser was ordered to pay back money she’d gotten from the school district for claiming an unsafe environment.

    • Deceptichum@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      34
      ·
      9 months ago

      It says the statute of limitations for lying in court was passed by the time he was cleared

      That is such utter fucking bullshit. I wonder if that’s why she finally came clean knowing she was safe from the consequences of her actions, alternatively he could still be in there if that was the case and they didn’t run out.

      So you cant even extend them without risking innocent people staying in gaol longer.

      • Ech@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        27
        ·
        9 months ago

        That actually highlights an interesting conflict - if the fear of prosecution keeps someone from coming clean until they’re “safe”, would it be better to not have a punishment for it at all? That seems unfair, of course, but is it more unfair than being falsely imprisoned longer than one needs to be? Maybe punishing people that are caught and pardoning those that come clean?

        • barsoap@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          edit-2
          9 months ago

          Better let the guilty go unpunished than the innocent suffer.

          It’s the very cornerstone of justice, a system of law which sacrifices the innocent in its zeal is generally not considered justice, but tyranny. Examples include things like witch trials, or the Khmer Rouge.

          Practically speaking: The right time to sentence an accuser for lying is during the trial against the accused, not after.

          • Ech@lemm.ee
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            9 months ago

            Better let the guilty go unpunished than the innocent suffer.

            I’m pretty much of the same mind, but unfortunately it’s a hard pitch to sell to the majority, it seems. Many are hungry for “justice”, which translates to revenge to most. It’s heartbreaking that innocents get crushed under a society’s campaign for punishment.

        • JCreazy@midwest.social
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          arrow-down
          4
          ·
          edit-2
          9 months ago

          This solution is, say there isn’t a punishment, then when the person confesses, punish them anyway.

          • brbposting@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            6
            ·
            9 months ago

            I appreciate this lighthearted solution in otherwise depressing thread. Of course in the real world for this to work, news sources and search engines would have to be censored, and lawyers would have to lie.

    • Scubus@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      12
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      9 months ago

      If you lie in court and it results in consequences for someone else, there should be no statute, and you should have to face the same consequences they did.