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April 12, 2007
Name the "Victim"
John Podhoretz makes the case.
It is the policy of the news media not to publish the names of rape accusers on the grounds that they should not have to fear public shame for coming forward with word of a horrifying personal violation.Mangum's lies almost ruined the lives of three men. Yes, it's easy to say that these guys should not have hired a stripper and put themselves in a position to be accused of this crime, but that doesn't excuse the repeated lies of Mangum, or the willingness of Mike Nifong to use those lies to further his political career.That is a noble policy. But it needs a codicil. The codicil is that if a rape accuser is revealed as a liar, her name should be spoken loudly and often - as loudly and often as the names of those whom she falsely accused have been over the past year.
Her name is Crystal Gail Mangum.
She must be denied anonymity because she makes a mockery of the very policy of granting anonymity to rape accusers. We do not publish their names so that they will not fear public exposure. But people who are tempted to do the monstrous thing Mangum did should fear public exposure.
But the fact remains - Mangum lied. And when those lies didn't fit the facts, she changed her lies. She does not deserve the same protection as those who are actually victims of rape. She may never be charged for what she did, but that doesn't mitigate how wrong she was to do it.
Posted by slublog at April 12, 2007 09:52 PM
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