Cleared Duke players consider suing DA

As they should. This is a news story for the ages. Let's begin shall we?

Despite an apology from the prosecutor who pursued rape charges against their clients, the lawyers for three exonerated former Duke lacrosse players were weighing a lawsuit against him, and legal experts said their case could have merit.

You know who else should be sued? The media, the groups that proclaimed these boys guilty before knowing the facts and last but certainly not least, the accusser. Rape is a tough charge to look at objectionally. Unfortunately it usually comes down to he said, she said. And while it is one of the worst crimes imaginable, I believe leveling these charges falsely should be on par. No woman should ever be intimidated into not filing rape charges if the rape occurs. We should protect our wives, our mothers, our sisters. But I believe a woman should be scared to level rape charges falsely. The damage done to a man or a group of boys as in this case is irreversible. Punishment should be handed out to Crystal Gail Mangum (the accuser). Why? Not because she lied, but because of what her lie has caused.

Now people can argue that a punishment being handed out to a woman who claims rape and later the accused is found not guilty shouldn't be punished for a possible mis-handling of justice and that's agreeable. But in this case, where the accusers story changed over and over, she was caught in her own lies and proceeded to be found to be flat out lying, just the fact that the charges are dropped against the accused isn't enough. She should be sued, charged and punished. No one can take those boys pictures off the 24 hour news networks for the past six months. No one can give them there honor back. Apologies aren't enough. We need to take a long, hard look at the role the media plays in our justice system. We need to start wondering if "innocent before proven guilty" can exist in a world with MSNBC and FoxNews.