In the race to the bottom on barring women from breast feeding in public places, a reader pointed out the a recent such dustup at The Hoover House Restaurant in West Branch, Iowa.

A mother tried to nurse her 8-month-old at the restaurant and was asked to either move to the restroom, cover herself more or leave.

This particular incident is notable for two reasons. First, the restaurant’s actions were possibly illegal. In 2000, Iowa passed a law stating that, “A woman may breast-feed the woman’s own child in any public place where the woman’s presence is otherwise authorized.” According to the Des Moines Register, 25 states have such laws protecting breast feeding women.

Second, this particular restaurant apparently has a history of holding wet t-shirt contests, so why they are suddenly offended by semi-exposed breasts is something of a mystery.

As in the Houston mall case earlier this year, about 13 women decided to hold a “nurse-in” at the restaurant in response to the incident.

Sources:

Nursing mom asked to leave. Mark Quiner, DesMoines Register, July 13, 2004.

No charge being pursued in breast-feeding dispute. Erin Jordan, DesMoines Register, July 20, 2004.

Leaders recall law’s intent. Deidre Bello, Iowa Press-Citizen, July 17, 2004.

Breast-feeding law needs to be followed. Editorial, Iowa Press-Citizen, July 17, 2004.

When computer repairman Steven Allen Moyer, 40, was called to the home of Victoria French, the Idaho man apparently decided that French’s love life could used an upgrade. So he kissed her once or twice and then suggested they move on to the bedroom.

According to Moyer, “She said she didn’t have a boyfriend. I asked her if she wanted a boyfriend for 15 minutes.”

She still didn’t want a boyfriend, so Moyer charged French $20 for the visit and left. Police later arrested him and charged him with battery for the nonconsensual kiss.

But at the end of June a five-man, one-woman jury took only 90 minutes to acquit Moyer of the charge, apparently convinced that the state had failed to show that an unwanted kiss constituted battery.

Sources:

Jury decides stealing kiss isn’t a crime. Associated Press, July 1, 2004.

A 100-year-old British man was recently sentenced to just 12 months “community rehabilitation” after pleading guilty to the manslaughter of his 87-year-old wife.

Bernard Heginbotham, 100, confessed to slitting the throat of his wife Ida, 87, on April 1 of this year. Ida was living in a nursing home due to her poor health and was scheduled to be moved to a different nursing home.

Bernard apparently believed that his wife would not receive proper care at the new nursing home and killed her in what he believed was an act of mercy. The BBC quoted prosecutor Hilary Banks telling the court that,

He [Bernard] admitted that he went to the home with a weapon and injured his wife which resulted in her death. He didn’t want his wife to be moved again and didn’t think she was going to receive the care he wanted her to have.

In sentencing Bernard to only 12 months community rehabilitation, the judge in the case said,

Bernard Heginbotham, the killing of your wife, to whom you had been married joyously for some 67 years, followed by your attempt to take your own life, was an act of desperation. It was carried out in an effort to end her suffering while you were under intolerable pressure. It was in truth an act of love and I have no doubt you suffered a medical disorder at the time and the responsibility which you bear is substantially reduced.

Sources:

Cutting Wife’s Throat Was ‘An Act Of Love’. Patrick Mulchrone, Daily Mirror, July 9, 2004.

Wife killer, 100, spared prison. BBC, July 8, 2004.

The Associated Press reports that New Jersey governor James McGreevey this month signed a bill requiring private health insurance companies pay for mammograms for covered women under 40 who have family histories of breast cancer.

Most health insurers already pay at least partially for mammograms, but some do not citing the ongoing medical debate about the effectiveness of mammograms in screening for breast cancer. With New Jersey’s change, 47 states now require insurance companies to pay for screening of at least some women under 40.

Regardless, mandates like this are simply a backdoor way of raising insurance rates which helps put basic access to health insurance further out of reach. Women and/or their employers should be free to negotiate whatever terms they like with health insurance companies free of such state-sponsored micromanagement.

Source:

NJ law: Insurance must cover of mammograms for women under 40 with history of breast cancer. Associated Press, July 8, 2004.

Investment banker Morgan Stanley this week reached a settlement with hundreds of women who claimed they had been sexually harassed and denied raises and promotions at the company. Morgan Stanley agreed to pay the women $54 million in total.

Since most Wall Street firms require employees to sign contracts requiring that they use arbitrators to settle legal disputes, Morgan Stanley’s trial would have been the first such trial of a brokerage firm had it proceeded.

Forty million dollars of the settlement will go directly to the 340 complainants, while $14 million will be earmarked for anti-discrimination training at the investment firm.

Morgan Stanley settles sex case. The BBC, July 12, 2004.