Names

     Presume that your state legislature is considering a bill that would make it a crime to publicize the name of a rape victim. The present law prohibits the police or other public officials from disclosing the names of rape victims, but the law contains no sanctions against news organizations that do so.
     The proposed law would punish journalists with a jail sentence of up to six months and a fine of $1,000 for identifying a rape victim without the victim's permission.
     The bill has aroused a debate between those who support it on the basis of protecting the victim's privacy and those who say it would compromise press freedom. The sponsor concedes that "it is a tough issue, but the victim's right to privacy overrides the right to a free press.
     "Freedom to publish is often the only thing that stands between freedom and tyranny. But there is a right to privacy that was upheld in Roe vs. Wade. Simply because a person is raped doesn't mean that right is surrendered."
     He cited the case of William Kennedy Smith, a nephew of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, who was accused of raping a woman. The alleged victim was first identified by tabloid newspapers and then by NBC News. The day after NBC made the identification, The New York Times and other newspapers also identified her.
     "That was wrong," the sponsor said. "A survey shows that women say their fear of being humiliated by having the fact they were raped becoming known is second only to the fear of contracting AIDS."
     Opponents of the bill say that it is unnecessary because the present law is sufficient. The state press association stated, "This is an infringement on our First Amendment rights and as such is unconstitutional. As a matter of practice, virtually all newspapers voluntarily shield the identities of rape victims." The Washington State Supreme Court held unconstitutional a state law that prohibited the disclosure of the identity of child victims of sexual assault.
     Take a position and support it with background material you obtain from the library through a database search or other research.