Politically Correct?

I think we go way to far with all this political correctness nowadays. Everyone is way too worried about offending someone and other people are way to sensitive. That does not mean I'm an advocate of using certain words, or name calling, or malicious comments. Most people can tell the difference between an innocent comment and something that's meant to be mean or demeaning.

This just takes the cake, though. Some judges are not letting the words "rape", "sexual assault", or "assailant" be used during trials for rape cases. I can't even begin to express how idiotic I find this. If the word "rape" is used in the charge itself, how can it not be allowed during the trial? Absolutely ridiculous! I'm all for innocent until proven guilty, and unbiased jurors, but this is going too far...at least, in my opinion.

Here are some excerpts from the article. The original is from the Kansas City Star and can be found here.

It’s the only way Tory Bowen knows to honestly describe what happened to her.

She was raped.

But
a judge prohibited her from uttering the word “rape” in front of a
jury. The term “sexual assault” also was taboo, and Bowen could not
refer to herself as a victim or use the word “assailant” to describe
the man who allegedly raped her.

The defendant’s presumption of
innocence and right to a fair trial trumps Bowen’s right of free
speech, said the Lincoln, Neb., judge who issued the order.

Bowen’s case gained national notoriety and drew the attention of
free-speech proponents after she filed a lawsuit challenging the
judge’s actions as a First Amendment violation. A federal appeals court
dismissed the suit, but Bowen’s attorney plans to petition the U.S.
Supreme Court.

Although he dismissed her suit, a federal judge
said he doubted a jury would be swayed by a woman using the word “rape”
instead of some “tortured equivalent.”

“For the life of me, I do
not understand why a judge would tell an alleged rape victim that she
cannot say she was raped when she testifies in a trial about rape,”
wrote U.S. District Judge Richard G. Kopf.