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So she was falsely accused, detained for a week, and released with apparently no consequences? That's not great, but it's hardly a uniquely Japanese horror story either.

For comparison, back in the Land of the Free, here's a kid in New York who was jailed for three years on Rikers Island for a similar false accusation of theft:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/10/06/before-the-law

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Yes, but that case is egregious by American standards, while the woman's case is everyday occurrence in Japan.

_Is_ that case egregious by American standards?

The 3 years might be (though I'm not convinced for some jurisdictions), but the overall shape of the case is, I think, depressingly common in the US...

I mean, the whole argument is based on two anecdotes, which show that both systems can be excessively unfair. We'd need at least some numbers to talk about "everyday occurrences" or not.

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