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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 8, 1995)
Sbss— NEWS D GEST Wednesday, February 8,1995 Page 2 GOP recasts anti-crime bill WASHINGTON — Methodi cally recasting last year’s crime bill, the House voted unanimously Tuesday to entitle victims to resti tution and looked ahead to more contentious measures to strengthen the hand of prosecutors and curb death row appeals. President Clinton mounted an uphill effort to head off another element of the Republican “Con tract With America” that would threaten plans to place 100,000 new police officers on the streets. Chagrined House Republicans were maneuvered into voting -against the Fourth Amendment of —the Constitution, with its protec . Than against unreasonable search - and7seizure. Members of the black •'Caucus sought to substitute it for a GOP plan to allow the use of cer tahthnlawfully obtained evidence, butTheir bid failed, 303-121. - Democrats conceded that Re 1 publicans, with a House majority for the first time in four decades, - would ultimately win approval for its crime package over the next several days. - : For its part, the Senate neared its first’votes on the proposed bal anced budget amendment to the -Constitution. Republicans said they had the strength to turn aside - a Democratic demand that they identify the spending cuts to be used to erase the federal deficit. But neither side seemed certain of victory when the final vote is taken on the House-passed amendment, probably in two or three weeks. The “Contract With America,” a campaign manifesto blending lower taxes, less government and a stronger emphasis on crime, was moving on several fronts through the House. One subcommittee announced plans to begin drafting sessions on a welfare reform measure next week, while other panels took tes timony on Clinton’s budget in ad vance of drafting a GOP blueprint likely to cut deeply into hundreds of federal programs. House Republicans have post poned action on the most contro versial crime-related measure likely to come before Congress this year. A provision backed by the National Rifle Association — and subject of a veto threat by Clinton — to repeal last year’s partial ban on assault-style weap ons has been shelved for several weeks. It will be combined with a bill to stiffen penalties for crimes committed with a firearm. By design of the GOP leadership, the first of six crime measures to reach the floor was utterly without con troversy, sailing through on a vote of 431-0. State wants criminals paddled JACKSON, Miss. — When it comes to punishing scofflaws from graffiti artists to petty thieves, some lawmakers think the best idea is a good, old-fashioned spanking. Of several states that have consid ered the idea, Mississippi has gone the furthest. The state House adopted abill Monday thatwould allowjudges to order paddlings instead of going to prison. The legislation does not spell out .how, when, where or by whom the punishment would be administered. - It would not apply to the most serious crimes, like murder or rape. “We have been packing them in the (prisons) by the thousands and still there’s no end,” said Rep. Steve Holland, a Democrat who pushed the proposal through. “I think this is a strong policy statement against crime.” Opponents believe it is more: un constitutionally cruel, humiliating, and uncomfortably reminiscent of the whippings doled out to slaves and the beatings endured by civil rights dem onstrators. The last state to whip a criminal was Delaware, which flogged a man who broke into a house and beat a woman in 1952. It abolished the pun ishment 20 years later. In 1989, a state senator proposed whipping drug dealers, but the bill never came to a vote. The idea took hold again after American teen-ager Michael Fay was flogged in Singapore last May for vandalism. Drug search sets off explosion PANAMA CITY, Panama—Anti narcotic agents using a blowtorch to cut into a steamroller suspected of containing drugs set off a powerful explosion Monday. At least two people were killed and 23 injured. The steamroller was found to be stuffed not with drugs but with as sault rifles and ammunition. The explosion rocked a dock at Cristobal, the Atlantic entrance of the Panama Canal, said Hugo Torrijos, director of the National Port Authority. The steamroller was part of a ship ment of road-building machinery headed for Ecuador, Torrijos said. That country is in the midst of a 2 week-old border war with Peru. Drug agents suspected the steam roller had drugs concealed in a wheel and were drilling into it with the blowtorch when the explosion oc curred, Torrijos said. Witnesses said there was at first one small explosion, followed by smoke, then a second huge blast. Two vehicles parked nearby were destroyed, as well as a small office building and a concrete wall a few yards away. Torrijos said the two people killed, a man and a woman, worked at the port. The wounded included police officers, drug agents and office work ers. Three of the injured were in serious condition. Port security director Bias Velasquez said firefighters found 90 Soviet-style AK47 assault rifles and ammunition when they tore open a second wheel. News... _ in a Minute Aristide lauds Inauguration date PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — For the first time, President Jean Bertrand Aristide celebrated the anniversary of his 1991 inauguration in his own country on Tuesday. v Still, despite the adulation he still commands, some of Aristide’s own supporters say his government has done nothing for them. Thousands of schoolchildren crowded the lawn of the national palace for the ceremony. Civilian marching bands played. The only military uniforms in sight were those of U.S. soldiers providing security. “Democracy for us Haitians is gold,” Aristide, wearing a presiden tial sash of red, blue and gold, told the crowd. “Today, we are fighting for gold;” j Aristide, who took office Feb. 7, 1991, was ousted seven months later in a military coup and spent the next three years in exile in the United States. Jewish group wants PJs pulled PARIS — A Jewish group today demanded a fashion designer withdraw striped pajamas that it says resemble death camp uniforms worn by Holocaust victims. “The pajamas, worn by an emaciated model, evoke images of a nightmare. It is shocking,” said Serge Cwajgenbaum, secretary general of the European Jewish Congress. The pajamas, by Japanese designer Rei Kawabuko, were presented two weeks ago at the “Comme des Garcons” men’s fall and winter collection. Cwajgenbaum said he “took note” of a letter from “Comme des Garcons” house director Adrien Joffe. He quoted it as saying that Kawabuko would “in the future be more attentive to the possible interpretations of her creations.” A spokeswoman for the Jewish group indicated later that the pajamas would be pulled from the designer’s collection. There was no immediate confirmation from “Comme des Garcons.” 19 indicted of military theft PHILADELPHIA — Federal agents set up a fake scrap dealership for a sting operation that netted 19 people accused of walking off with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment from military facilities. Authorities announced indict ments today against 18 uniformed and civilian defense employees, plus an ammunition dealer who is also accused of defrauding a program to give military surplus goods to non profit groups. The indictments said the men stole $600,000 worth of items such as shell casings, sewing machines, a dump truck and computers from the Phila delphia Naval Shipyard, the Naval Air Station in suburban Willow Grove and the Defense Personnel Support Center. Among the items were bolts made of a special alloy that cost taxpayers $50 a piece but were sold for scrap at $ 1.25 a pound, said Robert J. Sotack, special agent in the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. The three-year undercover sting operation was run by that agency and the FBI. Agents operated an under cover scrap business in South Phila delphia where uniformed, active mili tary personnel showed up to sell sto len goods, authorities said. Charges against many of the de fendants include unauthorized sale of government property, conspiracy * and theft of government property. Another juror replaced in OJ trial LOS ANGELES — Another juror in the O.J. Simpson trial was re placed Tuesday, and the judge sternly warned the newly reconstituted jury not to discuss anything in the case - not even what the lawyers are wear ing. Judge Lance Ito’s office said the woman was removed because her arthritis doctor may be called as a witness for Simpson, who claims bad knees and arthritis rendered him in capable of stabbing to death his ex wife and a friend. The 63-year-old white juror, a re tired legal secretary, was replaced by an alternate, a 54-year-old black man and postal operations manager. The 12-person jury now has nine blacks, one white and two mixed race members; there are seven women and five men. Nine alternates re main. Prosecutors, meanwhile, began presenting witnesses to establish the timeline for the June 12 murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. —Tto did not explain to the rest of the jury why one member was replaced. The move came after a two-hour pri vate meeting between attorneys and the judge that dealt with what Ito told the jury were “very delicate mat ters.” Later, in dismissing the jurors for lunch, he elaborated on his usual warning not to discuss the case. “You are not to discuss how long the case is taking. You’re not to dis cuss what goes on at sidebar,” he said. “You’re not to discuss the ap parel of the attorneys. You’re not to discuss the personalities of the court room personnel. Anything that is con nected with this case, you may not discuss amongst yourselves.” He did not say what prompted the warning. Two other jurors were dismissed last month without explanation from the judge. But news reports said one, a Hertz employee, had met Simpson during a company function, and the other, a woman, was in an abusive relationship. “We’re down to nine alternates in atrial that has presumabl y four months to go,” said Robert Pugsley, another law professor at Southwestern. * Simpson : Judge Lance Ito Tuesday dismissed a juror Who has the iWhe arthnds IIP doctor as 04 Simpson. The makeup of the jury! llpf ©i Men L»_ •52-yearold married man, 41111! .,; half American Indian and haff £«£ • x white, high school teacher . fF i! :f •Sishrear-old single main,- • $i;:i has-Hispanic and half, black, §llf delivery man . •46-year-old married black man,.£' courier •43-year-old married black mam i :: marketing representative &i ; W i I 1 \ Alternates: The pool el i alternate jurors has new shrunk from 12 to nine. They include one black man, four black women, three white women and one , f-^spanic woman. •5Q-year*olddiVDrcedblack woman, vendor£ k ♦3S.-year-6.ld single black woman, : |fKght attendant ' ;§a3?-year-old married black ; I Woman, post office employee ♦38-year-old married black ||. woman, employment coiinse jor• H ♦38-year-old single blari* woman, ;;| .envl^merifallieplfb.$peoialfet ...... 32?yearrold divorced black U' woman, ofetk" " iv hamBea^isojancectolms AP/C. Sanderson Nebiraskan Editor Jeff Zeleny 472-1766 Managing Editor Jeff Robb Assoc. News Editors DeDra Janssen Doug Kouma Opinion Page Editor Matt woody Wire Editor Jennifer Miratsky Copy Desk Editor Kristin Armstrong Sports Editor Tim Pearson Arts & Entertainment Editor Rainbow Rowell Photo Director Jeff Haller Night News Editors Ronda Vlasln Jamie Karl Damon Lee Pat Hambrecht Art Director KaiWilken General Manager Dan Shattil Production Manager Katherine Policky Advertising Manager Amy Struthers Asst. Advertising Mgr. Sheri Krajewski FAX NUMBER 472-1761 The Daily NebraskanfUSPS 144-080) is published by the UNL Publications Board. Nebraska Union 34,1400 R St., Lincoln, NE 68588-0448, Monday through Friday during the academic year; weekly during summer sessions. Readers are encouraged to submit story ideas and comments to the Daily Nebraskan by phoning 472-1763 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The public also has access to the Publications Board. For information, contact Tim Hedegaard, 436 9258. Subscription price is $50 for one year. Postmaster: Send address changes to the Daily Nebraskan, Nebraska Union 34,1400 R St., Lincoln, NE68588-0448. Second-d ass postage paid at Lincoln, NE. ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1995 DAILY NEBRASKAN
