A Twenty Five Year Old Lie

Hey All -- gettin' serious tonight.  An all-nighter at the office can do that to a man.

This week, she started paying what she owed.  She finally started paying off the judgment assessed against her by the man she wronged.  What's sad is that he'd vacate that judgment if only she admitted what she did.

In 1988, a teenager named Tawana Brawley, in a misguided attempt to avoid whatever punishment her ineffective parents would have tried to dish out, almost started a race war.  She falsely accused a large group of white men of gang-raping her.  No charges were filed, but at least one man's reputation, marriage, and career, were destroyed nonetheless.

Steven Pagones, a former Dutchess County prosecutor, was accused of being part of this fictional mob.  Even after the dismissal of all charges, the accusations nearly ruined him.  So much though that a jury found Ms. Brawley and her "mentors," including the The Rev-Al, liable for defamation.  While her mentors honored their obligations and compensated Mr. Pagones for his loss of reputation, Ms. Brawley tried to disappear.

Apparently her mentors failed to advise her that judgments grow interest, so she now owes four times as much as she did once the judgment was entered.  Fortunately, the law allows a very long time for creditors to collect on judgments, since debtors have a bad habit of going into hiding like this winner did.

But now, after all this time, she's finally started paying.  Not voluntarily of course, but only after this city's finest tabloids found her current whereabouts and Pagones and his attorneys were able to garnish her salary.  With any luck, they'll probably obtain the lion's share of that judgment once she passes and leaves her estate up for grabs.

Ummmmmm yeahhhhhh Dave . . . I'm reallllly not being condescending, but is there a point here?  You made me get up from Family Guy for  . . . . ?

Funny you should ask.

Rape is a horrible crime, second only to murder.  It is a violation of a body, the destruction of a soul, and the disruption of a life.  It is taking a process that was designed for intimacy, and sometimes for love, and using it as a deadly weapon.

So if you're going to accuse someone of committing this heinous act, and it's not true, you deserve the same punishment that a convicted rapist would get.

In my opinion, that former prosecutor was too kind to seek only a civil judgment.  What about abuse of process?  What about the taxpayers' money she wasted in order for a grand jury to be assembled, when she didn't even appear, because she knew she was lying?  What about the media circus that she started, the race-baiting and drama that now seems commonplace today?  Why exactly should that go unpunished?

Because of your age?  Because of your race?  Because of your gender?

WRONG.  If you were old enough to concoct that ridiculous story to avoid the consequences your parents should have (and probably wouldn't have) dished out, then you were old enough to face real consequences from telling that kind of lie on that kind of scale.  Who did you think you were, and what did you think you were doing?!?!?!  What kind of undeserved sympathy were you really expecting, and did you think it would absolve you of any responsibility?!?!?!?

She can scowl and complain all she wants at the money missing from her paycheck, as it will the rest of her natural-born life.  Maybe she'd really scowl if she had to spend some time in the S.O. wing of the state penitentiary.

When those lacrosse players at Duke University were cleared of all rape charges, the corrupt District Attorney who indicted them faced the music, but their accuser never did.  I guess this is the closest we can expect in terms of justice for those who falsely make rape accusations.  G-D willing, these recent events may change that for other cases.

DISCLAIMER:  As stated above, rape is a crime for a good reason, and there is no statute of limitations on it for a better reason.  Those who truly have been the victim of rape should never be afraid to come forward and tell their story.  Those who truly have NOT been so victimized, think first.  You won't get away with it anymore.

Feel free to comment, peeps!