By now many people have heard of the case of Tracey Roberson being sent to prison for manslaughter for the death of her lover that is said to have been caused by her accusing him of rape. The facts may later vindicate her, as her husband may be proved to have never believed her claim that she was being raped, but on principle, this ruling should not be controversial with anyone.
Rape is a very serious offense, and you don't need to be guilty of it in order for it to hurt your reputation. Even if her husband had called the police to get them involved, Roberson's lover would have had his life ruined by the damage to his reputation. He would have probably gone to a medium or maximum security prison filled with violent offenders, and his family would have lost him for several years if they were lucky. Objectively speaking, her charge was, for this very reason, indefensible.
It may not bother some people that she is being sent to prison for her false charge of rape, but it is a good precedent and one that will serve a lot of women in Texas well. By actually holding women who falsely claim rape accountable in court, it will hopefully discourage women from treating this issue lightly. It may come as a surprise to some, but there are actually women out there who will claim that an equally drunken hookup is rape or will claim that a man they never even had sex with at all raped them, just to be spiteful. About the latter, I would know from personal experience, because I dated one of those in high school (fortunately, she had few friends).
It is true that no one forces a man to behave violently when his wife accuses another man of rape. However, it is a fact of human nature that most men, being neither pathological wimps nor sociopaths, will not be so detatched that they will passively deal with the situation. It is also a fact of nature that allowing women to manipulate this natural tendency in men is a license for vigilante justice. Those who denounced Roberson's husband on principle for "vigilante justice" would do well to consider the fact that a woman who cries rape to cover up her infidelity is far more likely to solicit vigilante justice from her husband than in situations where the woman doesn't try to cover up her infidelity once it's exposed.
Two and a half years in prison for manslaughter is an awfully low price to pay for saying words that most women know are enough to make even most mild-mannered men become homicidal out of chivalric fervor for their wife's well-being and security.
Rape is a very serious offense, and you don't need to be guilty of it in order for it to hurt your reputation. Even if her husband had called the police to get them involved, Roberson's lover would have had his life ruined by the damage to his reputation. He would have probably gone to a medium or maximum security prison filled with violent offenders, and his family would have lost him for several years if they were lucky. Objectively speaking, her charge was, for this very reason, indefensible.
It may not bother some people that she is being sent to prison for her false charge of rape, but it is a good precedent and one that will serve a lot of women in Texas well. By actually holding women who falsely claim rape accountable in court, it will hopefully discourage women from treating this issue lightly. It may come as a surprise to some, but there are actually women out there who will claim that an equally drunken hookup is rape or will claim that a man they never even had sex with at all raped them, just to be spiteful. About the latter, I would know from personal experience, because I dated one of those in high school (fortunately, she had few friends).
It is true that no one forces a man to behave violently when his wife accuses another man of rape. However, it is a fact of human nature that most men, being neither pathological wimps nor sociopaths, will not be so detatched that they will passively deal with the situation. It is also a fact of nature that allowing women to manipulate this natural tendency in men is a license for vigilante justice. Those who denounced Roberson's husband on principle for "vigilante justice" would do well to consider the fact that a woman who cries rape to cover up her infidelity is far more likely to solicit vigilante justice from her husband than in situations where the woman doesn't try to cover up her infidelity once it's exposed.
Two and a half years in prison for manslaughter is an awfully low price to pay for saying words that most women know are enough to make even most mild-mannered men become homicidal out of chivalric fervor for their wife's well-being and security.
She apparently got 5 years while her husband will not be prosecuted. If anything, I'd increase her sentence. Other than that, I'm good with the facts of this case.
See, I'm a bit torn about the facts of the case. If her husband didn't believe her, he should go to prison, but on principle, she should too because she attempted to label LaSalle a rapist, when he wasn't, for the purposes of getting all of the violent attention visited upon him. That said, it's my understanding that of the five years she was sentenced to, she only is mandated to serve two and a half, the rest of which can be probation or something to that effect.