system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
CMV: People that falsely accuse people of crimes and are proven wrong should serve the punishment the accused would have.

I realize there are some cases where this may not be quite right (say if the death penalty is involved) but in principal I think this is justice. If someone accuses someone of rape for example, you're not only destroying there rep and sentencing them to prison, but exacerbating the problem of rape not being reported for fear of not being believed (sort of a triple whammy). One argument my friend made is that lying isn't as bad as rape and while it didn't alter my view, I did have a hard time arguing with that. 

Edit: To be clear, I used rape as an example because of the triple effect. I'm not just referring to it. I get it though; any sort of negative impact on victims of rape cannot (and absolutely should not) be discounted. 

Edit: My view has been changed; "Given the option between punishing the guilty and protecting the innocent, you have to side with the latter" was what I needed to hear. Thank you all!
gpt
This comes up a lot, and the simple biggest reason I'd recommend against it is the chilling effect.

If you make a false rape accusation carry the same weight as a real one, you *will* end up suppressing a group who is already reluctant to come forward. They'll have to stop and think about how convincing their story is, and seriously worry about whether or not they are going to end up being punished because they weren't believed.

The benefits, when you consider that, simply don't outweigh the pros.