The week's big news, and how's it's being spun.
June 29 1997 3:30 AM

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The Supreme Court ruled that there is no constitutional right to doctor-assisted suicide, which means that states may pass laws banning or limiting the practice. Advocates of assisted suicide took consolation in the court's caveats: 1) Patients still have the right to refuse treatment. 2) A doctor can still administer drugs that kill the patient, as long as the intent wasn't to kill (e.g., they can increase morphine dosage to relieve pain). 3) If states outlaw such lethal pain-relieving measures, the court might strike down those laws. 4) In the future, depending on the circumstances, the court might grant a specific patient the right to assisted suicide. 5) States are free to pass laws allowing assisted suicide. And regardless of the court's decision: 6) Doctors can still assist suicides secretly and 7) juries might never convict them. (Case in point: Dr. Kevorkian.) Analysts congratulated the court for its balance and flexibility. (6/27)

William Saletan William Saletan

Will Saletan writes about politics, science, technology, and other stuff for Slate. He’s the author of Bearing Right.

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The court also struck down the Communications Decency Act, which restricted indecent material on the Internet. The rationale: 1) The Internet is more like print than like television--and is therefore entitled to the broadest free-speech protections. 2) The CDA defines indecency too broadly and vaguely. 3) It subjects adults to content restrictions designed for children. 4) Parents can protect their kids from smut by lesser means, such as blocking software. Internet enthusiasts lauded the decision (particularly the first point) and stressed its importance as the court's first marker in cyberspace. Legal experts declared the court's language downright cyberphilic. (6/27)

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Russia's Mir space station was seriously damaged when it was struck by a cargo ship during a docking maneuver. The collision tore open one of the station's seven compartments (rendering it unusable) and knocked out solar panels. The two Russians and one American on board are safe for now, but half the power supply has been lost, and repairs will take weeks. American pundits and politicians grumbled that the Mir is a clunker, and said that the United States should stop sending astronauts to staff it. Russia's space-agency chief indignantly observed that the United States hasn't been similarly chastened by mishaps in its space shuttle program. (6/27)

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Other Supreme Court decisions: 1) Public schools can send teachers to administer remedial classes in parochial schools. Pundits found the specific policy unobjectionable but worried that the court is chipping away at the wall between church and state. Analysts predict that this decision will embolden advocates of voucher plans that would let parents spend public funds on parochial schools. 2) States can keep violent sex offenders locked up in mental hospitals on the grounds that they're "mentally abnormal" (as opposed to mentally ill) even after they've served their sentences. 3) The Religious Freedom Restoration Act, in which Congress restricted state and local governments' authority to take general actions that might limit religious activity, is unconstitutional because it usurps the courts' authority to set such limits. 4) President Clinton can keep his line-item veto power--at least as long as he doesn't use it. Clinton applauded the decision and promised to use the veto judiciously. (6/27)

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The Air Force issued a report ostensibly laying to rest eyewitness accounts of space aliens in Roswell, N.M., 50 years ago. The report translates things people claim to have seen into things the military says it was testing in the desert back then: Flying saucers were really balloons, four-fingered aliens were really disfigured crash-test dummies, and a bulbous-headed alien was really a soldier with a swollen head injury. UFO enthusiasts debated whether this is a flimsier or more diabolically clever cover-up than previous attempts. (6/25)

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The Senate voted to raise Medicare premiums for the rich and to postpone (gradually) the age of eligibility from 65 to 67. Observers were amazed that 70 senators voted for the premium hike and that 62 voted for the age hike, given the political firestorm certain to ensue. Editorialists quarreled about the specific proposals--the Washington Post objected to the age hike, while the Chicago Tribune welcomed it--but agreed that the Senate showed refreshing courage. President Clinton and senior citizens' lobbies are already demanding that both changes be withdrawn. (6/25)

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Whitewater investigators have begun interrogating state troopers and women in Arkansas about Bill Clinton's alleged extramarital affairs, according to the Washington Post. The Post called it "a sharp departure" from the probe's previous direction. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court agreed that White House lawyers' notes of two conversations with Hillary Clinton are not shielded by attorney-client privilege from independent counsel Kenneth Starr's subpoena. Analysts predict the notes won't hurt the Clintons but that Starr will reinvigorate his investigation by demanding all documents (and perhaps testimony) from every White House lawyer who worked with the Clintons or their aides. (6/25)

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Cultural milestones: 1) The New Jersey girl who allegedly dumped her baby in the trash and resumed dancing after giving birth at her high-school prom has been charged with murder. An autopsy showed that the baby was either strangled or smothered. 2) A Wisconsin teen-ager was sentenced to two years' probation on felony sexual-assault charges for consensual sex with his girlfriend. She was 15 at the time; he was 18. After she got pregnant, he offered to marry her and got a job in order to support her. Jurors, citizens, and the media portrayed the conviction as an outrage. 3) Louisiana lawmakers passed a bill to establish the option of "covenant marriage," which can be dissolved only on serious grounds such as abuse, adultery, or desertion. The idea is that while you can still ask for regular marriage, which can be dissolved on lesser grounds, your fiance or fiancee may dump you for being a commitment cheapskate. (6/25)

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The whereabouts of former Cambodian dictator and mass murderer Pol Pot remain in doubt. Both of Cambodia's prime ministers agreed with U.N. and Western leaders that if he had, in fact, been captured by a rival Khmer Rouge faction, he should be whisked from the country for an international trial. But China said it would not support U.N. efforts to prosecute Khmer Rouge leaders; and the United States pressed Canada, Denmark, or the Netherlands to take the lead in setting up a war-crimes tribunal. Pundits applauded the opportunity to strengthen international concern about crimes against humanity, but most saw little chance for improvement in Cambodia's corrupt and violent politics. (For a backgrounder, see Slate's "The Gist.") (6/25)

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Miscellaneous: Betty Shabazz, the widow of Malcolm X, died. Commentators marveled that she had withstood her husband's murder and raised six daughters, only to be burned to death by a fire allegedly set by her grandson. Jacques Cousteau died and was remembered for introducing millions of people to the wonders of the sea. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu narrowly defeated a parliamentary no-confidence vote on his government. Critics cited new defections and last-minute deals as evidence that his power is crumbling. A study found that people who socialize are four times less likely than loners to get a cold if they are exposed to cold viruses. However, the study did not assess whether socializers are more likely to be exposed to cold viruses in the first place. Princess Diana put 79 dresses on the auction block for charity. The Washington Post pronounced them "ghastly" and concluded that it's no wonder she's getting rid of them. (6/25)

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Business news: 1) The Dow Jones industrial average plunged 192 points, its biggest point loss since the crash of 1987--and then regained 154 points the next day. Analysts concluded that the bull market is invincible. 2) Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and Oracle chairman Larry Ellison announced $200 million and $100 million donations, respectively, to equip libraries and schools with computers. The Wall Street Journal, while acknowledging that the gifts will popularize the companies' products, hailed this as a "new wave of corporate giving." 3) Rupert Murdoch announced an $850 million purchase of cable-sports channels that will make Fox Sports a serious national rival to ESPN. The Los Angeles Times concluded that Murdoch is developing a rivalry with Disney (which owns ESPN) to compound his rivalry with Ted Turner. 4) Nike recalled 38,000 pairs of shoes to avert a boycott by Muslims who objected that the shoes' logo looked like the Arabic word for God. (6/25)

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The U.S. House voted 259-173 to preserve China's Most Favored Nation trading status. Pundits regretted that the fight wasn't as close as expected (the opposition to MFN fizzled) but applauded the outcome and urged Congress to find some other vehicle through which to express U.S. dissatisfaction with China's policies on human rights, trade, and arms sales. (6/25)

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Tobacco companies agreed to settle lawsuits by 40 states and many individuals. The companies would pay $368 billion over 25 years for smoking-related health costs; stop advertising on billboards, clothing, and at sporting events; pay for anti-smoking ads and smoking-cessation programs; pay large fines if youth smoking fails to decline annually; and allow the FDA to regulate the content of cigarettes. In exchange, the companies get an annual cap on damages assessed in lawsuits; immunity from punitive damages for past behavior; and immunity from class-action suits. Two months ago, when the talks first surfaced, pundits and politicians boasted that a deal would be historic and revolutionary. Now that the deal is done, pundits and politicians have decided that it must be a scam, since the tobacco companies agreed to it. (6/23)

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The Women's National Basketball Association opened its inaugural season. Analysts touted its big TV contracts, corporate sponsors, and heavy marketing by the NBA--and warned that if women's pro sports can't succeed with all this help, they never will. Critics griped that the league underpays its players (salaries range from $15,000 to $50,000) and has failed to outbid the rival American Basketball League for top talent, though the two leagues might eventually merge. The media linked the WNBA's tip-off to the simultaneous 25th anniversary of Title IX, which helped establish women's sports. While acknowledging the WNBA's opening-game success--14,000 fans showed up, and 3.7 million households watched on TV--the Los Angeles Times lamented the game's "countless mistakes and poor shooting."(6/23)

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Eight of the world's leading economic powers concluded their summit in Denver. The two principal topics of commentary were 1) Russia's participation, which ostensibly will strengthen its commitment to democracy and capitalism and 2) Clinton's exuberance over U.S. economic supremacy. Commentators agreed that the summit produced agreement on all the small and vague items (banning cloning, fighting disease, standing up for Hong Kong, increasing international trade) and no agreement on the big ones (curbing greenhouse-gas emissions, expanding NATO, imposing austerity measures in Europe). (6/23)

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Jesse Timmendequas was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of 7-year-old Megan Kanka. The sentencing hearing commanded nationwide attention because 1) it followed Timothy McVeigh's death sentence in the Oklahoma City bombing and 2) Kanka's murder had inspired numerous states to require that neighborhoods be informed of the arrival of convicted sex offenders. The Washington Post noted that, whereas McVeigh's lawyers said he was too decent and too wholesomely raised to deserve death, Timmendequas' lawyers said he was too screwed up and too abusively raised to deserve death. Analysts agreed that the juries, in rejecting both arguments, struck a blow for personal accountability. (6/23)