1996-03-24
Craig A. Johnson
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Date: Fri, 22 Mar 1996 18:06:59 -0800
To: •••@••.•••
From: •••@••.••• (--Todd Lappin-->)
Subject: MEEKS: "The Hyde Factor"
Hell hath no fury like Brock Meeks with an email account.
In this episode, Brock introduces us to the charming and delightful
Rep. Henry Hyde, Republican Congressman from Illinois.
The honorable Mr. Hyde, you will recall, was team captain of the
Communications Decency Act cheerleading squad in the House of
Representatives last year. In addition, Mr. Hyde is also responsible
for the provision of the telecommunications reform bill which makes it
a crime to distribute abortion information over the Internet.
I'll let Brock fill you in on the rest of the sordid tale.
--Todd Lappin-->
Section Editor
WIRED Magazine
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THE HYDE FACTOR
CyberWire Dispatch // Copyright (c) 1996 //
Jacking in from the "Is That Your Peyote or Mine?" Port:
Washington, DC -- Hell hath no fury like a piece of legislation that
comes around and bites its author on the ass. Enter Rep. Henry Hyde
(R-Ill.)
You remember Hyde. He's the wheezing, corpulent, white-haired gnome
on steroids that snuck language into the telecom reform bill that
makes it a crime to even mention abortion in an electronic format.
Hyde's pathetic legislative slight of hand revived the all but dead
Comstock Act, which was enacted when General Ulysses S. Grant was
president. It was aimed at stopping activists of the day from
distributing printed abortion information.
Oh, the humiliation of it all. First, Hyde was little more than the
water boy for Sen. James Exon (D-Neb.), being made to introduce Exon's
Communications Indecency Act language into the House telecom reform
bill. Second, even as my gnarled fingers hammer out this Dispatch,
the American Civil Liberties Union and a coalition of other groups are
in a Philly court, claiming provisions of the reform bill that Hyde
helped make law are unconstitutional.
Now, I don't know about you, but I wouldn't exactly be thrilled having
to shoulder the shame of being known as the legislator that wrote such
an egregious rat bastard bill that the courts deem it
unconstitutional.
In fact, when the courts do overturn this blatant affront to free
speech, those in Congress responsible for it should be impeached. The
charge? Criminal negligence and terminal ignorance of the
Constitution they have sworn an oath to serve.
And when that happens, we can call it the "Hyde Factor." Just
imagine, lawmakers would forever live in fear of writing legislation
that would raise the specter of the "Hyde Factor" kicking in.
I'm licking my chops already, thinking of standing up during a press
conference to ask: "Senator, with all the controversy surrounding
this bill, aren't you afraid the fallout might invoke the 'Hyde
Factor'?" And then I would sit down and watch the little beads of
sweat form on the Senator's upper lip.
As if all this weren't enough, consider the twisted political vortex
Hyde finds himself in today, as the Subcommittee on the Constitution,
which falls under his chairmanship as head of the House Judiciary
Committee, holds an oversight hearing on abortion procedures.
Political Pretzel Logic
===================
In preparation for the hearing, Hyde sent letters to all those asked
to testify. In that March 8 letter, a copy of which was obtained by
Dispatch, Hyde says that the Subcommittee "puts prepared statements
for hearings on the Internet to allow access to the public." To
facilitate that, Hyde asked that all testimony be included on a disk.
The "Murder, She Wrote" fans among you will have already sniffed out
the thinly veiled plot about to unfold here.
A March 15 letter to Hyde from Kathryn Kolbert, vice president of the
Center for Reproductive Law and Policy, on behalf of a doctor asked to
testify at the hearing, lays bear Hyde's political pretzel logic.
The letter, a copy of which was obtained by Dispatch, tells Hyde that
the doctor he asked to testify must decline. Kolbert is representing
the doctor in litigation challenging an Ohio bill which bans certain
abortion procedures. However, "[m]ost importantly, your March 8,
1996 invitation is clear that the... prepared statements for hearings
be put on the Internet," Kolbert says. If the doctor were to comply
with such a request he "is extremely concerned that this practice may
subject him to criminal liability" as defined under the same language
that Hyde himself inserted in the telecom bill that criminalizes the
transferring of abortion information on the Internet!
The doctor's testimony "could be considered advertising, something you
explicitly said would be criminal," Kolbert wrote to Hyde. "Moreover,
discussion of the availability of abortion at his facilities, as well
as the medical aspects of the procedure, may be criminal violation
under the explicit terms of the new telecommunications law," she says.
This one incident speaks volumes. Not only about extreme chilling
effects of the anti-indecency provisions in this bill, but also about
how truly clueless Hyde appears to be with respect to his own
legislation.
And remember, this was testimony to be held before the CONSTITUTION
Subcommittee. Hello? Maybe Hyde should tap that campaign warchest
and buy a fucking clue.
Like I said, when the anti-indecency provisions of this bill are
deemed unconstitutional, they should hold impeachment hearings based
on criminal stupidity. If nothing else, it will give the media hacks
a new catch phrase: "And now, Sir, about that pesky 'Hyde Factor'..."
Meeks out...
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