This week a panel of three Superior Court judges was to hear an appeal by the J.J. Gumberg Co., owner of the Waterworks Mall, which wanted to force a woman who was kidnapped in the mall parking lot and then raped into identifying herself in a civil suit claiming inadequate security.

That won't happen now because the company has wisely withdrawn its appeal -- and that's a good thing all 'round.

In the first place, it is reassuring, because of the unfortunate stigma that persists around rape, for the victim to be allowed to be named in court papers as "Jane Doe" (and her husband as "John Doe") -- a sensible step that Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Christine Ward had earlier permitted.

It is a good thing, too, for the citizens of Pennsylvania, because while the victim's request seemed well-based in the law, it was always possible that the case might have established a nasty precedent that could affect future victims in similar circumstances.

Lastly, it is good for the company, which insists it is attentive to security at the mall. This was not a case of defendants seeking to unmask an anonymous accuser; Gumberg's attorneys have known the name of the Fox Chapel woman for some time (as has the Post-Gazette and other media outlets). That being so, the company couldn't help being seen, fairly or not, as pursuing a legal tactic that amounted to crass intimidation.

Now the case can proceed on its own merits without this disturbing distraction.