Let's Stop Naming Rape Suspects

Those who make rape accusations generally do so with anonymity. It's time to grant the same privilege to those being accused, argues attorney Roy Black in Salon. There's no justice in parading someone in public as if he were "nuclear waste" when he hasn't been convicted of anything, writes Black, who successfully defended William Kennedy Smith on rape charges in the 1990s.

"We are relentless at public shaming and humiliation," writes Black. "Reputations are smeared, finances eviscerated, careers destroyed; jobs, businesses, friends, wives and children lost forever. All of this regardless of the verdict." The law has changed over the years to make it easier to file rape charges, and thus easier to make ruinous false accusations, he writes. At the very least, it's time to end the double-standard on anonymity. Read the full column.

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