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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 24, 1994)
EDITORIAL Saga of the Bobbitts should be forgotten “Not guilty, by mason of insanity." Thank God it's over. It was a story that made men all over the world squirm in their seats, a story that gave many advocates for bat tered women something to rally around. It was the most talked-about story in the news for months, and now it's nnaliy over: norena ooooiu was found not guilty of maiming her husband by u jury of her peers on Friday in Manassas. Va. — a jury persuaded that she was insane when she took out a kitchen knife and proceed ed to cut off her husband’s penis. Most of the people doing Lorena Bobbitt should not bo considered a symbolic heroine for battered women. the talking about tins case seemed to min*, it was an awfully big deal: a pret edent-setter, sure to have long standing effects on the way the American justice system reacts to cases of battered women fighting back. Maybe that's true, but there's more to the Bobbitt case than such concerns. The public's fascination with the Bobbitts is voyeuristic and prurient. While some intel lectuals have tried to justify tneir interest by talking about precedents being set and barriers being broken, legal experts have their doubts about whether the Bobbitt saga will have a significant effect on justice — if it has any effect at all. So what has this story really Ixren about? It has boon about a bizarre act of violence. If l.orena Bobbitt had shot and killed her husband, it might've made the national news the night it happened. Afterwards, it would've been forgotten. It would’ve been lost in the news shuffle, lack ing a magical word like "penis" to hold the public inter est. No one should bo all that surprised by the jury's deci sion, There are only three possible verdicts: guilty, not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. There is no question that Lorena Bobbitt did in fact maim her hus band. so she is “guilty." in a nonlegal sense, but the choice to cut off hor husband’s penis was not a choice which would be made bv a sano woman. In fact, all the arguments that indicate that Bobbitt was somehow justified in assaulting hor husband in this wav are counterproductive and dangorous. Our legal system does not recognize retaliation as a justification for this kind of violence. Self-defense, yes. Kotaliation. no. Lorena Bobbitt should not be considered a symbolic heroine for battered women. She had no legal or moral right to do what she did. We can understand her reasons, but that doesn't mean we should recognize them as valid. The best avenue for battered women is for them to leave. No one is saying that it's easy, but it’s often the only way out. The Bobbitt case does not change that. If this caso has made any woman feel entitled to attack hor abusive husband, then it has done a grave disservice to all battered women. They cannot escape responsibil ity for their actions. They should not be encouraged to try. Oregon Daily The Oegon DMy fmmak) .» pubfcsned da** Monday though f nday dot mg me ectioo. yee< end Tuesday end Thursday du"ng the summer by the Oegon Deity Emerald Pubtufuog Co . Inc at me Umversity of Oregon, f ugene. 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LETTERS Well done I think. perhaps Diana Collins Puente should look again at her five veers of "sweat. blood and tears" on tins campus She says she came here to "achieve change, to bettor the lifestyle and the educational svstem for people of color, for lesbians, gays and bisexuals, for women and non-traditional students What I have found out is that these goals cannot be accom plished," {ODE. Jan, 14). I would point out that that is a goal that could take a lifetime, and to not see it fulfilled in the way she might have envisioned may be disappointing While she no longer will be ASUO vice president, she will be affecting i twinge in the world 1 would also point out that there has been change in those areas and she has affected it I. too, want justice for all people 1 want women like Colhns-Puunte to be working toward their goals. 1 especially want you. Diana, to know that you have made a difference on this campus You have a certain fire and passion that wakes people up. People do not necessarily want to he wok en up. People have to look at things they might not want to see when they are so rudely awoken. People do strange things in reaction to being wok en up this way. You have made a difference, you do make a different*. Some times it is the ''small" and seem ingly insignificant things that end up making the biggest dif ference. Look back at your five years here and see what you've accomplished, whose life have you touched7 There is u lot more than you even know. And thank you for being you. Please don't stop speaking up for what you believe in. and keep in mind that everything you do does make a different e II you know that you are making a difference you may take some pretty bold actions that you might not oth erwise take. Sandy Murphy Sociology Fair trial? As one person (protester) whose picture was beamed all around the world from n Pack wood protest at a Cottage Grove yurt factory, I can tell you that 1 am fed up with liberal opinions like Martin Fisher's (ODE ]un. 20), Consider this. Mr. Fisher: there are no fair trials in 1990s America for the women who have come forward or for Mr. Pack wood Matter of fact. 1 believe that if the liberal press would have done some investigative report ing prior to Mr Packwood's election in November 1992. he would not Ih1 hiding behind any office, let alone the U S Senate. Now. as it stands. Mr. Pack wood cannot be recalled; is homeless (trailer-less) in Ore gon; has tried to hide behind a drinking problem; has apolo gized for his inappropriate han dling of women's bodies; and now has taken back bis apology and is attacking his women accusers And to top it all off Mr Fisher, he will only come bai.k to the state he represents when it suits his purpose. Now. Mr. Fisher, let me ask you. since you are willing to wait for "the results of the inves tigations." If a homeless, alco holic man abused not one, not two. not three, but 2fi women in Oregon, would you wait in your "old-fashioned notion," leaving this man free, gallivanting around the country in hopes that someday, someway, some how lie would get a fair trial, or would you take action now? Rick Gold Eugene Not guilty When Emerald readers learn alwut a student who has alleged ly committed a crime, they usu ally forget the word "allegedly" and readily assume the accused is guilty. Whether the person was indeed guilty or not will never be known to the reader, for in most cases the judgment will I Hi months later and by then it 's not hot enough any longer to bo printed. To protect the alleged perpe trator and the victim, I suggest to print only the initials of the per sons involved or not to mention their names at all, as is common practice in most civilized coun tries and in the Emerald's own police beat. A case at hand is the alleged first-degree rape committed by a physics graduate student, reported in the Nov. 12 Emer ald. The case has been dis missed by the prosecutor Yet, it will Ini almost impossible for rny colleague to restore his damaged image in the community. This letter is intended to help just that. His name should not have ever appeared on the front page of the Emerald. It is not only unnecessary, it is adverse to the healthy atmosphere of the Uni versity community to embarrass students publicly with such allegations It does not serve jus tice. but punishes an innocent person. Martin Guthold Physics Fishy Bob Packwood has a defen dunt, Emerald columnist Martin Fisher, who wants Packwood to stay 8 senator until he gets a tri al. Hey. Fisher, shall we bring back Richard Nixon, who was never tried? I personally asked Packwood, "Are you saying you can't get a fair trial as an average citizen that you need to use the clout of the Senate as a shield7" He should resign simply because he loves Oregon. He should want us to have a senutor who is not an embarrassment and politically impotent. As usual, Fisher's reasoning is sus piciously fishy. David Oaks Eugene