Attack on Women's Rights Week
Ya know, if a person loved a good conspiracy theory, one might start thinking something was up following the Alito nomination. First comes the Supreme Court decision to end the injunction against abortion protestors harrassing women outside clinics providing abortions and ruling that federal racketeering and extortion laws couldn't be used to ban the demonstrators.

Then there is the spate of state legislation written or in the works to limit or eliminate abortions in South Dakota, Georgia, Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Mississippi, Missouri, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Tennessee. Oh, wait, I'm not imagining a conspiracy. There most certainly is one --the intent all along was to overturn Roe v. Wade, and the pro-lifers are racing with glee to get to their new Bushie Supreme Court to give it a whirl. Some of these new laws provide no exception for pregnancies caused by rape or incest. Let me spell this out clearly. The states have decided to force women to become receptacles. Roll back the clock.

Oh yes, lets not forget the Illinois judge that threatened a 20 year old woman with jail if she continued to refuse to watch a video of her own alleged gang rape at age 16. He relented eventually, but Judge Kennedy still says he may show the video in open court after her testimony. Ah yes, let's drag the victim through the mud just for fun. This video could be seen by just the judge and jury, the consenting parties and their attorneys, but no, let's traumatize the victim all over again by showing it to anyone who walks through the courtroom door.
http://khon.com/khon/display.cfm?storyID=11691&sectionID=1150

Wounded Boy's Mother Relates Past Threats to Kill Children If She Left
A Minnesota fugitive pulled a gun on law enforcement officers who had blocked in his car as he waited at a Homer, Alaska airport parking lot. Within the car were his 6 month old and 2 year old children. Shots were exchanged and the 2 year old was critically injured. State child protection services have taken custody of the two children. The children's mother indicated they told her she was an unfit mother for "abandoning" her children to a dangerous man. This man was the father of the children, and according to the mother had repeatedly kept the children from her, and on the several occasions where she tried to escape his violence, he would threaten to kill them if she didn't return.

It remains to be seen if state child protection workers will take heed of the Nicholson
v. Scoppeta federal class action lawsuit brought by a group of battered women in New York for the same sort of attitudes and treatment. Federal Judge Weinstein found that New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services had been violating the constitutional rights of mothers and their children by removing children from their homes simply because their mothers are victims of domestic violence. The women prevailed.

http://www.adn.com/front/story/7496264p-7406799c.html
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/7493514p-7403615c.html

I picked up the movie "North Country" over the weekend. Its based on the story of the nation's first class-action sexual-harassment suit, which settled in 1998, two decades after the abuse started. Although the courtroom dramatics at the end were a little--no strike-that-- a lot unbelievable, the overall film was well done. I related to what the women had gone through having had more than one boss over my long career in a male-dominated industry that thought it just fine to make comments about my physique, ogle, make sexual innuendo and even threaten my job at one time. I remember being told by other male co-workers to "lighten up" and "oh, that's just the way so & so is--he's harmless. Yeah, right. Funny that a management consultant did not see it that way and advised upper management to remedy at least one of those work situations pronto before I lost my entire sense of humor and slapped them with a lawsuit. They were lucky that at the time I was more forgiving and naive.

Unimaginable what these women had to endure in order to keep their jobs. I was fortunate in being able to have other employment options, one of which was starting my own business and becoming head-to-head competition for the worst of the idiots. No one should have to put up with this crap, but it still goes on today. The Clarence Thomas hearing was not that long ago. It was interesting to watch with my significant other who could empathize with the women, but had none of their experience and could subsequently easily accept the closing titles showing a settlement for the women. For me, it took quite some time to put the themes aside again. I hope that my daughter never have to encounter this in the job market and actually be considered for her accomplishments rather than her physical attributes.

Derek Sawyer, 32 of Glennallen, Alaska, has been charged with Murder in the first degree for the shooting death of his wife, Gretchen Sawyer, who was 20 years old at the time of her death. During the initial investigation, he claimed she had been shot while he was showering by their 2-year old son. Crime scene reconstruction by the Alaska State Trooper Cold Case Unit and further forensic testing of evidence indicated the child was not the shooter. There had been a prior divorce filing, paternity of the 2 year old had been in question at the time, and the couple had recently reconciled and were purportedly planning a move to Gretchen's home state.

Kudos to senior assistant attorney Rick Svobodny and Susan Parkes, deputy attorney general for reviving this case. One has to wonder how it ever went un-investigated in the first place.

The next question remains...who has been raising the couple's child then and who is caring for him now?

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/ap_alaska/story/7474066p-7384293c.html
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/ap_alaska/v-printer/story/7474066p-7384293c.html

Women and Public Policy in Alaska
The Gender Equality Section of the Alaska Bar and the Anchorage Association of Women Lawyers are presenting a forum on Women in Public Policy. Wednesday, Mar. 8, at 12 noon, in the Hilton Hotel Chart Room. Call 907-566-6257 by Monday, Mar. 6 to RSVP. The panel will feature Susan Reeves (moderator), Judge Morgan Christen, Marcia Davis, Heather Kendall-Miller, and Gail Schubert. Topics include: the role of women in policy development, women as policy-makers, women as those who carry out the policies of other decision-makers, and why women are needed in public policy roles. 1 CLE credit.

Superior Court Judges Standing for Retention Election in 2006
Weeks, Zervos, Erlich, Esch, Bolger, Brown,Huguelet, Michalski, Morse, Smith, Suddock, Tan, Torrisi, Volland, Wolverton, Devaney, Olsen, Wood.

In talking with many Alaskan voters, the Polar Digress has found that few have any idea about how their state judges are truly performing.

So Alaska, here's time to disseminate information. How have these Superior Court judges performed on the most important cases that come before them--child custody cases? Any children sent to abusive homes unsupervised? Any given over to the full custody of theirs or their protective parent's abuser? Time to get the word out.