4
OPINION
Page 4 Wednesday, September 30, 1987 The Michigan Daily
Ghe t ctgan Bil
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
Vol. XCVIII, No. 15 420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Unsigned editorials represent a majority of the Daily's Editorial Board. All other
cartoons, signed articles, and letters do not necessarily represent the opinion
of the Daily.
Paying an overdue debt
LAST WEEK, A FEDERAL appellate
court overturned the 47 year-old
conviction of a Japanese-American
who was imprisoned in a U. S.
internment camp during World War
II. The decision proves that the
U.S. government discriminated
against and wrongly imprisoned
Japanese-Americans on the basis of
race.
While the government can never
compensate the victims in full, a
first step in toward making amends
would be for the Supreme Court to
uphold the appellate court's ruling.
Japanese internment is a n
unpublicized, disgraceful chapter in
American history. The hysteria
which followed the bombing of
Pearl Harbor provoked a
tremendous amount of anti-
Japanese predjudice. It was widely
believed, though there was no
evidence to support this view, that
Japanese-Americans would support
the country of their ancestors. In
reality, many Americans of
Japanese descent fought gallantly in
the war.
Over 100,000 Japanese-Amer-
icans were placed in detention
camps thousands of miles from
their homes. In many cases, their
homes and businesses were taken
during their internment.
A challenge to this internment was
originally brought before the
Supreme Court by Gordon
Hirabayashi, an American of
Japanese descent who was arrested
for violating a curfew on Japanese-
Americans and refusing to report to
an internment camp. The Supreme
Court upheld his conviction in
1943.
In last week's case, that of Fred
Korematsu, the appellate court
overturned the precedent set in
1943. Unless the Supreme Court
reconsiders, however, the
Hirabayashi ruling will remain part
of the court's precedent.
The Justice Department should
appeal the internment cases to give
the Supreme Court an opportunity
to overrule its decision. Supreme
Court interpretations make the
Constitution a living document.
Though it will not change the reality
of what happened to 100,000
Japanese-Americans, the Supreme
Court can protect future generations
by repudiating a dangerous
precedent.
Chassy
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LETTERS:
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41
A
Defendant is victimized in rape trial
Is Bork a liberal?
S UPREME COURT NOMINEE
Robert Bork should be opposed on
.political grounds. He is a right-
wing ideologue who would turn
back the clock fifty years on
progressive legislation.
Bork's conservative extremism is
outside of the philosophical main-
stream. Based on his writings and
'decisions, Bork would be likely to
restrict the rights of women,
Blacks, the press. Under Bork, the
majority or popular consensus will
get its way.
Bork has criticized nearly every
major Supreme Court ruling since
the ascension of Earl Warren to
Chief Justice. He sees no right to
privacy, ignores the Fourteenth
Amendment's application to women
or any other non-racial minority,
finds nothing unconstitutional about
,prayer in public schools, and does
not find fault with poll taxes. Bork
is a walking anachronism.
Bork has done a seeming about-
face. In his confirmation hearings
he has presented himself as a
moderate. Bork, all of a sudden,
seems liable to join Justices
Brennan, Marshall, Blackmun, and
Stevens in a liberal majority on the
Supreme Court.
President Reagan and the
Attorney General, Edwin Meese,
nominated Bork because of his.
adherence to the theory of judicial
restraint. But he appears to have
taken an opposing viewpoint. The
Courts should be "active in
defending individual liberties,"
Bork said. They thought they were
nominating conservative legal
scholar, now Bork is posturing as a
liberal activist.
The views he has espoused
durin the heari ngcnmnletelvy
Roe vs.Wade, which asserts a
woman's right to an abortion.
But Bork surprised everyone at
the confirmation hearings by
changing or recanting many of the
views he held as late in the 1980's.
Before the Senate Judiciary
Committee, Bork claimed "full
acceptance of the incorporation
doctrine."
Bork expressed a desire to apply
liberal precedents that he has
. riticized. He told a group of
Senators just before the hearings
that he is willing to look for a
constitutonal right to an abortion
directly contradicting Roe vs.Wade.
Bork thinks he can woo the
undecided Senators with his new-
found moderation strategy, but he
has underestimated the their
intelligence. The Southern
Democrats, moderate Republicans,
and the electorate will not be so
easily fooled.
Bork has probably just fallen into
their disfavor because his integrity
is in question. This is an issue
anyone from Ted Kennedy to Arlen
Specter to Strom Thurmond can use
to vote against Bork and look good
doing it. The Judiciary Committee
should block Bork not only over his
regressive political views, but also
his lack of integrity.
Bruce Fein of the conservative
Heritage Foundation said, "Bork is
bending his views to improve his
confirmation chances, and it's a
shame." To reverse a viewpoint the
night before confirmation smacks of
untruthfulness and could be in.
effect lying to Congress.
Unfortunately, Bork's sudden
"confirmation conversion" is a
facade. It is no coincidence that
once Bork's confirmation is
endangered he changes his views.
He has moderated his views only in
nrd.i- r o fiflfi1 hie Inna- i e r f
To the Daily:
prej-u-dice (prej a-dis) n.
1. a. An adverse judgment or
opinion formed beforehand or
without knowledge or
examination of the facts. I am
writing in response to a very
prejudicial letter written by
Jeana Lee concerning the
sexual assault trial of a former
Michigan student. I could not
believe what I read. First of
all, I wonder if Ms. Lee knows
all the facts about the case. I
would sure hate to make a
decision on the defendant's
guilt or innocence based solely
on what I read in the Daily. In
her letter Ms. Lee states
"calling witnesses to the stand
to set the scenario for the
assault was needless." This is
what the whole case is about.
The question is: did t h e
'victim' wish to have
intercourse with the defendant,
and was she in a normal state
of mind if she agreed? As for
the 'injuries' to the woman:
there is zero concrete evidence
that indicates the defendant
forced himself upon the
'victim.' As indicated in the
Daily's coverage of the trial
on 25 September these injuries
could have happened at any
time prior to the incident. The
simple fact is - at this time
(Friday 25 September) - it
has not been decided if he is
guilty of any wrongdoingrat
all. Ms. Lee's gross exaggera-
tion of the facts and use of
adjectives like "mutilated" go
too far. The sole purpose of
this trial is to get the facts
straight. I believe when this is
all over, the jury will realize
the victim's story just does not
hold water and the defendant
will be proclaimed innocent.
Unfortunately this will only be
the beginning of the end of the
whole ordeal.
Did Ms. Lee ever stop to
think about the damage that
has been donetto the defendant?
Before the trial had even begun
much of the public already
formed its opinion as to
whether he was guilty or not.
Mr. Neal's name has been
dragged in the gutter from one
coast to the other and we don't
even know if he did anything
wrong at all. Along with that
goes the reputation of his
fraternity which has nothing to
do with the incident. He and
his family have been through a
living hell for the past few
Michigan plus his future, is at
stake here. I was brought up
believing that you were
innocent until proven guilty.
We are overlooking that here.
I'm scared. It could be me in
the courtroom today - me or
90% of the men on campus
could find themselves in a
position such as Mr. Neal's.
Shuger de
To the Daily:
The editorial entitled
"Athletics and ethics" (Daily,
9/18/87) questioned the
journalistic practices I
employed in my Ann Arbor
Observer piece ("My
Semester in PE 402," 9/87).
I'd like to respond.
The Daily objects that I
used "names of students
unnecessar-ily t o
sensationalize my account of
the class," and that I
"unfairly quote(d) people
who were unaware that (I)
was writing an article." If
some of my revelations were
sensational, they, weren't
sensationalized. The job of a
reporter is to convey
interesting, true inform-
ation. This puts a premium
on specifics. I included
Garland Rivers' name in
reporting I saw him check
his class notes during a test
for the same reason that the
Daily would never merely
report that "the game-saving
interception was made by an
Every morning I get up I thank
God that this didn't happen to
me or any of my close friends.
I hope that now since people
have heard the defense's side of
the case that everyone will be a
little more open minded about
the situation. There are always
two sides to every story. I'm
not sure who the real victim is
fends his reporti
unidentified defensive back."
And formally announcing.
my presence in the class
would have negated the
whole point of the story,
which was to give readers the
most accurate picture
possible of the University's
Physical Education program.
The editorial also charges
that I "ignore(d) the positive
qualities of the class," and
that I "entered the class for
the sole purpose of exposing
the Ath-letic Department."
On the con-trary, I really did
try to include anything
positive that I saw. And
while its pretty hard to prove
something about personal
attitudes, let me just say that
I didn't go into the story
with an axe to grind. I went
into it with a great deal .of
curiosity about this black
box program which in m y
previous writing I'd found
pretty hard to penetrate. Once
I was in place, I simply
wrote what I experienced.
The Daily is just mistaken
in this particular case. All I
know is that there is no such
thing as casual sex nowadays.;
I think we all have learned a.
valuable lesson at someone-
else's expense.
-Tim Gresla
September 27
ng tactics
in assuming that;the decision
to do this sort of story must
come from a personal
vendetta. The real point is
that the University is
academically shortchanging
its star athletes. The signifi-
cance of of that problem
explains why such
presumably disinterested
parties as National Public
Radio, the Detroit Free
Press, and the Chronicle of
Higher Education have
picked up the story.
By the way, I liked the
accompanying cartoon.
Except for the fact that I
never could have done the
story if I'd stuck out as
obviously as it suggests, it
is depressingly accurate. The
students around me did fall
asleep frequently, and
therewas a lecture oi
sportswear color schemes.
-Scott Shuger
September 24
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