“Jailed for a false rape charge”
No charges were filed against Crystal Mangum, the false accuser in the Duke Lacrosse case.
Now, I understand the thinking of the district attorney who replaced Nifong, and made the stunning announcement that charges were being dropped against the lacrosse players, not because there was lack of evidence, but because the evidence prove they were innocent. He tactfully hinted that Mangum was so mentally unstable that it would be difficult to convince a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that she knew she was lying.
But if that’s the case, she should have been committed. Someone that deeply out of touch with reality is a danger to herself and others — as was amply demonstrated.
The Jews figured out three thousand years ago that the appropriate punishment for perjury was to inflict on the perjurer whatever he thought to inflict on the defendant through his false witness. Under that standard, which seems eminently just to me, Mangun should have been put away for life if found sane. Indefinite commitment on the grounds she is not sane works for me as well.
But we’re still struggling to reach the same level of justice understood by Moses three millennia ago.
