Forum Newsfront

Equal Time

Anchorage, Alaska--Local School officials ordered ninth-grade teachers to skip the first chapter of a history book that offers only the Darwinian explanation of creation until they could approve supplemental materials giving equal time to the religious theories of creation. The action came in response to a group of parents who protested the chapter on evolution as anti-Christian and un-American. One problem, the superintendent told the school board, was whether or not to give the "Genesis" account of creation and, then, whose version of "Genesis" to use.

Faster Wheels of Justice

San diego--The legal community, but so far none of the petitioners, is concerned by a local judge's technique for simplifying divorce procedures. In uncontested cases, Judge Raul Rosado has assembled prospective divorcees in groups, had them sworn in by the court clerk and then has granted interlocutory decrees to the entire assemblage on the basis of uniform yes and no answers to the basic questions involved in default divorces under California law. Most observers think the system works extremely well, clearing court calendars of simple cases that ordinarily take up to two hours each and sparing those waiting their turn from hearing endless recountings of "marital woes." Lawyers and some other judges have called the practice cold-blooded and fear it will "make a sham out of marriage by making it too easy to divorce."

Nice Start

Philadelphia--A municipal-court judge permitted withdrawal of assault charges against a man accused of beating and choking his bride into unconsciousness after a wedding-reception argument with his mother-in-law over money borrowed to purchase wedding rings. The judge commented, "True love doesn't always run smooth."

Tax dodge

Washington, D.C.--A Maryland couple have lost the first round in their efforts to reduce their taxes by divorcing and remarrying each year. Present income-tax law tends to benefit unmarried persons over those who are married and filing either jointly or separately. A Federal tax judge dodged the issue of tax inequity that the couple attempted to raise in court and, instead, held that they "never intended to, and never did, physically separate from each other prior to or subsequent to either of the divorces," and therefore were not divorced in the eyes of the tax collector. The couple indicated they'd appeal.

Woman's Right

Hauppauge, New York--A man is not entitled to divorce his wife just because she refuses to bear children, a New York Supreme Court justice has ruled. The case involved a husband whose wife of ten years allegedly refused sex unless he used a contraceptive, and the judge found that a legitimate exercise of the woman's personal rights consistent with the U. S. Supreme Court's position on abortion: "It follows naturally that if a woman can terminate a pregnancy without the consent of her husband, she should be allowed to make the unilateral determination to prevent it." The court did grant a divorce to the wife, however.

Contraceptive Freedom

Minneapolis--A Minnesota law restricting the sale of nonprescription contraceptives has been voided as a result of a suit filed by the Minnesota Civil Liberties Union and the A.C.L.U.'s Reproductive Freedom Project. The statute, passed in 1965, permitted the sale of such items as condoms and vaginal suppositories only by businesses or organizations dealing primarily with health or welfare. The suit argued that the right of access to contraceptives is constitutionally protected. Some 12 other states have similar restrictive laws, but in most places they are not enforced. The Minnesota case arose after a county attorney threatened to prosecute a restaurant for having a condom machine.

Unstacking the Deck

Greenfield, Massachusetts--In overturning a 1979 manslaughter conviction, a state appeals judge has ruled that a young person's right to trial by a jury of peers means that at least some members of the jury must also be young. In the case of a 20-year-old defendant, the judge found that the jury-selection system generally used in Franklin County was nonrandom, subjective and tended to produce a pool of potential jurors who were disproportionately old.

Cheap Trick

Seattle--A Federal appeals court has ruled that police legally may bribe a five-year-old to show them where his mother hides her dope stash. When officers failed to find the heroin they were looking for at a Seattle woman's home, they talked her son into showing them the hiding place in return for five dollars. In a split decision, the court held that even a young child is free to reveal incriminating facts about a parent and that it's permissible for police to pay the kid for the information.

Stamping out Chemistry

Washington, D.C.--The Drug Enforcement Administration reports that underground, drug laboratories are springing up in ever greater numbers around the country and most of them are the work of college students or graduates with training in chemistry. The DEA says the clandestine labs are turning out such drugs as amphetamines, LSD, PCP and methaqualone and that the number of busts increased from 33 in 1975 to 237 in 1979.

Return of the CIA

San Francisco--The Central Intelligence Agency is asking Congress for legislation that it considers necessary to protect its sources and agents. The proposed legislation would reduce the number of Congressional committees that oversee CIA activities, further exempt the agency from provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, prohibit the disclosure of identities of agents and protect CIA secrets from discovery during court proceedings. Speaking before the San Francisco Press Club, CIA director Admiral Stansfield Turner said the new measures were necessary in the face of increasing Russian military strength and reduced economic growth in the free world.

Moral Politics

New York city--A suit to revoke the tax-exempt status of any Roman Catholic church or organization engaging in political activity on behalf of antiabortion candidates has been filed in Federal court by the Abortion Rights Mobilization group. The legal action cited numerous incidents of bishops' and priests' exhorting parishioners to defeat "prochoice" candidates. One example listed was a pastoral letter from the archbishop of Boston proclaiming it a sin to vote for two pro-abortion Congressional candidates. Lawrence Lader, president of A.R.M., cited the "danger of one religion seizing for itself an illegal advantage--using the special privilege of tax-exempt money and facilities to intimidate a congregation into voting the church's way."

Price of Prison

Lansing, Michigan--The state of Michigan, short of revenue to operate its prisons, has decided to sue inmates with substantial savings accounts to make them help pay for their own room and board. A 1935 state law exempts money earned in prison but empowers the state to file claims against other assets of inmates to recover housing expenses, which currently cost taxpayers about $28 a day.

No Joking Matter

Denver--Another judge has gotten himself in trouble with feminists by making flippant remarks about rape cases. The Arapahoe, Denver chapter of the National Organization for Women has protested a speech by a U. S. district-court judge who joked that he would like to try a "garden-variety rape case" because "it keeps you awake in the afternoon and provides a little vicarious pleasure." A NOW representative denounced the comments, joking or not, as showing "extreme insensitivity to the victims of sexual assault." In the past few years, several judges in different parts of the country have come under fire for remarks in or out of court that appeared to treat rape lightly.

Avoiding Confusion

Houston--The city council has rescinded a Houston ordinance aimed at transvestites that prohibited "appearing in public dressed with the intent to disguise his or her sex as that of the opposite sex." The action came after a Federal judge decided the law violated the civil rights of transsexuals, and the Houston police legal department acknowledged that an arresting officer would have no way of knowing if a suspect were a legal transsexual, an illegal transvestite or what the difference was. The decision noted that dressing in clothing of the opposite sex is frequently part of the treatment preceding a legitimate sex-change operation.

Meanwhile, the Fifth U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans has ordered a lower court to reconsider whether or not a state Medicaid program may be required to pay for prescribed transsexual surgery.

Don't Make Waves

Alexandria, Louisiana--Police and firemen rescued a 40-year-old man from the waste pit of a lakeside outhouse where he had spent ten hours "up to his armpits" after an argument with tow hitchhikers who wanted a longer ride. The attackers forced the motorist to drive to a rural boat landing, stranded him in the deep pit, then fled. Police said the victim, after his rescue, ran to the lake and jumped in.