1. Same-sex marriage vote raises questions
2. 'Piano Teacher' Author Jelinek Wins Nobel Prize
3. K-State prof charged in ex-wife's slaying
4. Polygamy laws expose our own hypocrisy
5. Corpse-abuse suspect had dark side, Web data reveals
6. In response to sadomasochists
7. Sex case draws opposing views of law
1. Same-sex marriage vote raises questions
2. 'Piano Teacher' Author Jelinek Wins Nobel Prize
3. K-State prof charged in ex-wife's slaying
4. Polygamy laws expose our own hypocrisy
5. Corpse-abuse suspect had dark side, Web data reveals
6. In response to sadomasochists
7. Sex case draws opposing views of law
Same-sex marriage vote raises questions
by Jeff Wright
The Register-Guard (Eugene, Oregon)
October 7, 2004
Vote yes, and you're legalizing discrimination.
Vote no, and you're paving the way to legalized polygamy.
Those, at least, are among the arguments that supporters and opponents have put forth on behalf of ballot Measure 36, the hotly contested constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriages in Oregon.
Measure 36 supporters … have warned that the amendment's defeat could lead to state-sanctioned polygamy. Clark said it's possible in light of opponents' assertion that marriage hinges not on the sanctity of a two-person relationship but rather on consenting adults' desire to be married – without specifying the number of consenting adults.
"So the same would apply to three people – there's no distinction," he said.
Harris, the UO law professor, said various restrictions on marriage – such as a couple's age or their relationship as first cousins – are imposed by society. Polygamy is typically frowned upon in part because of the economic disadvantage it imposes on women and children, she said.
"It's not that polygamy is automatically unconstitutional, but it's a different argument" than the arguments made for and against same-sex marriage, she said.
[cont.]
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http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/10/07/a1.marriage.1007.html
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the author at jwright@guardnet.com or the editors at rgletters@guardnet.com
'Piano Teacher' Author Jelinek Wins Nobel Prize
by Stephen Brown ABC News October 7, 2004
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Austria's Elfriede Jelinek won the Nobel Prize for Literature on Thursday for novels and plays that starkly depict violence against women, explore sexuality and condemn far-right politics in Europe.
Her unemotional descriptions of the power play in sex and human relations, and outspoken political views, have alienated many in her native Austria but have also won her respect as a fearless feminist writer who makes bold use of language.
"The Piano Teacher" tells of a middle-aged woman, trained at the Conservatory like Jelinek, who seeks release from a rigid society via voyeurism, sado-masochism and self-mutilation with a razor. One review of the movie with Isabelle Huppert said it had possibly "the strangest sex scene in the history of movies."
[cont.]
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http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Entertainment/reuters20041007_318.html
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K-State prof charged in ex-wife's slaying
by Mike Belt and Eric Weslander
Lawrence Journal-World (Kansas)
October 5, 2004
A Kansas State University English professor walked into a Douglas County courtroom in shackles Monday after being charged with murdering his ex-wife last year at her home north of Lawrence.
"This is State v. Thomas E. Murray," District Court Judge Robert Fairchild said, opening a first-degree murder case that police have been building since they found Carmin D. Ross, 40, slain Nov. 14, 2003, inside her home at 1860 East 1150 Road.
Detectives searched Murray's home in Manhattan, but officials later said he wasn't a suspect. This summer, in an angry letter filed in a civil case related to the death, Ross' father accused Murray of being "manipulative and controlling." The letter said Murray had a motive to kill Carmin Ross because he blamed her for ruining his life by leaving him.
Murray is a linguistics scholar who, while living in Ohio in 1989, co-wrote "The Language of Sadomasochism," an explicitly termed glossary of about 800 terms used by people who take part in sexual sadomasochism.
Tom Murrell, the book's co-author, said that as far as he knew, Murray never had a personal interest in sadomasochism. Murrell was a student of Murray's at Ohio State University and said he first brought the subject to Murray's attention after Murray gave a lecture about coded language.
Murray later suggested compiling a book, he said.
"If I had to testify I would say that he had no interest in that. It was me who had the interest in that," Murrell said. "He was interested in the linguistics aspects of this subcultural inside language."
[cont.]
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http://www.ljworld.com/section/crime_fire/story/183501
To respond, write to: editor@ljworld.com
Polygamy laws expose our own hypocrisy
by Jonathan Turley (opinion) USA Today October 4, 2004
Tom Green is an American polygamist. This month, he will appeal his conviction in Utah for that offense to the United States Supreme Court, in a case that could redefine the limits of marriage, privacy and religious freedom.
If the court agrees to take the case, it would be forced to confront a 126-year-old decision allowing states to criminalize polygamy that few would find credible today, even as they reject the practice. And it could be forced to address glaring contradictions created in recent decisions of constitutional law.
Individuals have a recognized constitutional right to engage in any form of consensual sexual relationship with any number of partners. Thus, a person can live with multiple partners and even sire children from different partners so long as they do not marry. However, when that same person accepts a legal commitment for those partners "as a spouse," we jail them.
I personally detest polygamy. Yet if we yield to our impulse and single out one hated minority, the First Amendment becomes little more than hype and we become little more than hypocrites. For my part, I would rather have a neighbor with different spouses than a country with different standards for its citizens.
I know I can educate my three sons about the importance of monogamy, but hypocrisy can leave a more lasting impression.
[cont.]
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http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/columnist/2004-10-03-turley_x.htm
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Corpse-abuse suspect had dark side, Web data reveals
by Tom Beyerlein
Dayton Daily News
October 2, 2004
In a profile on a matchmaker Web site for gay sado-masochists, Matthew Morgan Caddy described himself as "average, innocent-looking, but (with a) very dark side."
He listed as some of his interests "blindfolds, bondage – light/heavy/severe, breath control, bullwhip, collars, cuffs, electricity, face mask, gags, kidnapping, mummification …."
Today, this man who enjoys holding others captive is himself a prisoner – of the Montgomery County Jail – after police on Aug. 31 found the corpse of a missing Minnesota man in his basement amidst a collection of bondage devices.
It isn't the first time Caddy's self-described "kinky" tastes have come to the attention of police. He was convicted of sexual battery and kidnapping in 1977 after handcuffing and assaulting a co-worker, and White said he has another conviction in another state. In December, a visiting Australian man told police Caddy wouldn't free him after a consensual bondage session at Caddy's home. Acquaintances in the local peace movement said they were surprised to learn of Caddy's arrest in Everson's death.
[cont.]
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To respond, write to: edletter@daytondailynews.com
In response to sadomasochists
by Les Kinsolving (opinion)
WorldNetDaily
October 2, 2004
I have received e-mail from all over taking strong issue with my WorldNetDaily column and WCBM broadcast commentary of Sept. 11, 2004.
Among the more vivid was Scott Reskin, who wrote:
"I read your Sept. 11 column on WorldNetDaily expressing your concern that if homosexual marriage becomes legal, then soon after even sadomasochists will be able to marry. I'm afraid I have some bad news.
"We already can marry. In fact, many of us do, right under the noses of upstanding citizens such as yourself.
"Sadomasochists enjoy an advantage that gays and lesbians do not. You see: We don't show. If two men wish to marry, or two women, well, that stands out. But when a sadist marries a masochist, no one need be the wiser. Of course, if they particularly want whips and chains at the wedding, there's no law against it. I've even seen it done."
[cont.]
To read this article, go to:
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=40728
To respond, write to:
the author at lkinsolving@worldnetdaily.com or the editors at letters@worldnetdaily.com
Sex case draws opposing views of law
by Denise Jewell
Gloucester County Times (New Jersey)
October 1, 2004
WOODBURY — He said. She said.
He said she started the "rough sex" during an eight-month affair.
She said she drew the line when "playful sex" turned into abuse.
A Woodbury assault case in which authorities have accused county lawyer Harold Crass, 58, of abusing former client Tanya DeJohn during an affair is full of contradictions –including how attorneys think a municipal judge expected soon to issue a ruling should interpret the law.
Crass, first assistant counsel for the county, faces one count of simple assault and two counts of harassment that stem from an eight-month relationship with DeJohn before she filed a complaint in September 2003.
Crass, a partner in the Woodbury law firm of Pearson and Crass, admitted on the stand in August he slapped DeJohn and participated in asphyxiation with her during sex. However, he denied allegations of abuse.
Attorneys in the case disagree over how New Jersey law should apply.
No New Jersey case has directly dealt with the issue of sadomasochism or rough sex, wrote Carl Poplar, a defense attorney for Crass, in a 21-page summation.
However, Poplar points to a state statute that allows a victims' consent as a defense in limited situations, including when the harm is not serious and it is a "reasonably foreseeable" hazard of an activity not forbidden by law.
Poplar contends that evidence in the case shows the "rough sex" between Crass and DeJohn was mutual and consensual.
[cont.]
To read this article, go to:
http://www.nj.com/news/gloucester/local/index.ssf?/base/news-7/109661856485400.xml
To respond, write to:
the author at djewell@sjnewsco.com or the editors at egoldberg@sjnewsco.com
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