Bill to Bar Naming of Rape Victims Gains

A Senate committee voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to make it a crime for a news organization to identify a rape victim without permission.

By an 8-1 vote, the Judiciary Committee approved a bill that would make it a misdemeanor for the news media to print or broadcast the name, address or otherwise identify an alleged sexual assault victim who wished to remain anonymous. Breaking the law would be punishable by up to six months in jail.

Supporters said the bill, by Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles), would protect victims’ privacy rights. Opponents said it would trample on 1st Amendment guarantees and predicted it would be struck down by the courts.

“It seems pretty clear that it’s unconstitutional on its face,” said Francisco Lobaco, a lobbyist for the American Civil Liberties Union.

The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 1989 ruling, said civil penalties could not be imposed on a newspaper under a Florida statute similar to those contained in Torres’ bill. “This is even more extreme; it’s criminal penalties,” Lobaco said.

Torres said the bill was in the works before William Kennedy Smith, a nephew of U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, was accused of raping a Florida woman. Some newspapers have published that woman’s name, prompting national debate.

Torres and Kate Sproul of the California branch of the National Organization for Women said failure to protect rape victims’ privacy would discourage them from reporting the crime to police.

“I cannot understate how painful and emotionally debilitating rape is to the victim,” Sproul said. “Her privacy needs to be protected.”

Tom Newton of the California Newspaper Publishers Assn. questioned whether Torres’ bill was needed, saying he wasn’t aware of any newspapers in the state that publish rape victims’ names without their permission.

Terry Franke of the First Amendment Coalition said there are already potential civil liabilities that could discourage news organizations from revealing rape victims’ names.

A Torres aide, Peter Blackshaw, said the bill’s jail sentence could be imposed on the head of a news organization that violated the bill’s provisions. The measure also provides for fines of up to $1,000 a day, he said.

The Judiciary Committee vote sent the bill to the Appropriations Committee.