THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26,1991
EUGENE, OREGON
VOLUME 93, ISSUE 21
State court kills PETA suit
Ruling may set precedent for similar cases
By Came Dennett
Emofakl Associate Editor
A threo-your-old case filed l)y People
for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
closed lust week, when thu Oregon Su
preme Court ruled tin- group lias no le
gal standing to contest the approval of
University research involving barn
owls.
The court's ruling may set a precedent
on the rights of public interest organiza
tions to challenge decisions made by
state agencies
"The Supreme Court's ruling upholds
previous denials of PETA's legal stand
ing by the Marion County Circuit Court
and the state Court of Appeals,” said
John Mosel y, University vice president
for research.
"It also follows the dot isions of fnder
ul and state courts in the past which
have ruled that representatives of ani
mal rights groups are not aggrieved par
lies with legal standing lo challenge
governmental decisions on animal
cure." ho said in a news release
Had I‘ETA won the case, it would
have established a precedent that might
have cast them in the same role as other
public interest groups, said Todd Haus
tnan, a member of the University chap
ter of Students for the Ethical Treatment
of Animals, and a recent appointee to
the University's institutional Animal
Care and Use Committee
Environmental groups have met with
some success in appealing timber sales,
but animal-rights groups have not txien
able to fighl animal research within the
legal system, Hausman said
"They were arguing on the basis that
the University is a public institution,
much like the forests are public lands."
he said.
The lawsuit began in November 19Htt
when PETA. a national organization
based in Washington DC., filed a peti
tion for review under the Oregon Ad
ministrative Procedures Act in the Mar
ion County Circuit Court.
Thu petition alleged that the 1ACUC
did not follow proper procedures when
authorizing Professor Terry Tukahashi's
research on the auditory system of ham
owls.
The petition alleged that the commit
tee violated Oregon Public Meetings
Law, Oregon's quorum statute, the fed
eral Animal Welfare Act and Public
Health Service policies.
The case was dismissed in February
1989 on the grounds that PET A did not
have standing to sue The Court of Ap
peals upheld the ruling in June 1990.
PETA attorneys Allen Johnson and
Mary Scurlock then filed a petition for
reconsideration and review with the Su
preme Court and the Court of Appeals
The Court of Appeals refused to recon
sider the case, but the Supreme Court
granted a review in Novomber 1990.
‘They were arguing on
the basis that the
University is a public
institution, much like the
forests are public lands.’
Todd Hausman,
IACUC member
The Supreme Court ruled that not
only was PET As interest political, but
tiie group could not meet any of the re
quirements under which it might have
found legal standing to dispute the
lACUC's decision.
One of PETA's primary handicaps
was that the group was targeting the
University from its huso in Washington
DC., and was viewed as an outside poli
tical interest group trying to tell a Uni
versity on the other side of the country
Turn to PETA. Page 3
71
Wm2- :ujl iJ.Vr.jk*..
Current practices
Eugene Fire Department's water rescue team conducts rescue
training under the Autzen footbridge Wednesday The fire
department's rescue raft is anchored into position by cables
suspended from the bridge, which enables divers to conduct sweep
searches of the area without being washed downriver by the swift
Willamette currents
Photo by EBrian Kelly
Speakers rally against Thomas nomination
. /'i..
...
By Hope Nealson
Emerald Reporter
Speakers voiced their opposi
tion to Supretno Court justice
nominee Clarence Thomas at a
rally in the EMU Courtyard
Wednesday.
The rally was sponsored by a
variety of University and local
groups, including Students for
Choice, Oregon National Abor
tion Rights Action League.
NAACP. National Oregon for
Women, and tho National Law
yers Guild.
People are rallying and
speaking out all over tho coun
try, and die rally was a chance
for local groups opposed to
Thomas to also speak out,
NAKAL political organizer Ju
dith Schoap said.
"Although tin: press has not
played it up, there is opposi
tion to this candidate." she
said.
"It's Important to show this
Is not a popular choice with a
lot of poop to. It's important to
go on record why we opposo
It,” Schoap said. "And it's im
Pfxxo t>y Md
Ellen Firstner, of the National Organization lor Women, speaks out
against the nomination ot Clarence Thomas to the U S. Supreme
Court.
portant just for the sake of mo
rale."
The two concerns brought up
repeatedly by the six speakors
included the issues of abortion
and affirmative action.
Mary Wldoff of Lane County
Planned Parenthood said that
after carefully weighing Thom
as' record, the national organi
sation of Planned Purenthood
came out against him.
"The reason that Planned
Parenthood formally came out
clour to us that lie's not willing
to uphold Kuo versus VVudo,"
she said. "He's got a truck re
cord that concerns us."
VVidoff said some of the past
indicators of Thomas’ anti
choice leanings included his
praising of an article written by
Lewis Lchnnun that dealt with
natural law and hud a severe
pro-life slant
Thu article argues that hu
man fetuses have a constitu
tional right to life, which, if
necessary, supersedes the right
of a woman to terminate u preg
nancy.
According to Nowsweek.
Thomas culled this a "splendid
example of applying natural
law." thereby making it possi
ble that Thomas could use nat
ural law to rule ugainst abor
tion.
Thomus' pust record plus his
refusal to say where he stands
on the abortion issuo have
alarmed groups such as
Planned Parenthood, Older
Turn to THOMAS, Page 3
INDEX
Deaths_
Theodor Seliss ('.oisel, the
[)r Seuss whose classics de
lighted generations of chil
dren and parents, died yes
terday. He was H7.
See story, page 9
New directors_
The Student Health Center
is starting the school year
with two new administra
tors Gerald Heischli is the
new director ol the health
center, and Weston Morrill
heads the University Coun
seling Center.
See story, Page 4
Sports_
The Oregon football team,
facing their toughest test of
the season thus far, may
have to play USC Saturday
without star running hack
Sean Durwell.
See story, Page 10