Free Republic

When Rolling Stone published a brutal account of a fraternity gang-rape at the University of Virginia, the magazine relied on the recollections of the young woman who said she was assaulted. Quoted by the nickname “Jackie,” the tale of her assault was used to exemplify the prevalence of sexual assault on college campuses and was the crux of an argument that university administrators who handle such claims can be indifferent to them. Jackie told Rolling Stone in explicit detail aspects of the night she described as the worst in her life: Sept. 28, 2012, when she said she was assaulted...

For a second day, former Rolling Stone fact-checker Elisabeth Garber-Paul took the stand to explain why she believed Jackie, the student whose fake gang rape story sent the University of Virginia campus into uproar two years ago. “She seemed to really care about getting this story right,” testified Garber-Paul. “She was totally comfortable with having her peers know she was the Jackie in the story.” Unlike other witnesses in this trial, now in its eighth day, Garber-Paul turns directly toward the jury to explain that she conducted a pair of two-hour conversations with Jackie. “Four hours in one week is...