MEESE, HENTOFF DEBATE FIRST AMENDMENT ISSUES

Former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese and Village Voice writer Nat Hentoff agree on one thing: they have the right to publicly disagree.

In a Tuesday debate at Southeast Missouri State University, the two clashed on numerous issues regarding freedom of speech. One of the most heated issues was the regulation of sexually explicit materials.

Meese cited government studies that concluded obscene material distorts adults' views on sexuality and encourages coercion in sexual relationships, thus leading to more incidents of rape, sexual abuse and assaults.

But Hentoff called the reports "foolish studies that cannot be proved."

He said the idea that in a free country, people can be punished for what they read or see is "absurd," and chastised Meese for blaming society's ills on obscenity.

"Meese forgot one thing; obscenity will give you cancer," he said.

Meese and Hentoff debated First Amendment rights and freedom of speech at the Show Me Center. The debate was sponsored by the Student Activities Council at the university.

In addition to obscenity, the two expressed views on child pornography, Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas, the naming of rape victims by the press and whether "community standards" should be used to govern obscenity.

Hentoff said he didn't believe in using community standards to regulate what is considered obscene, because such standards differ from state to state and from town to town and cannot be adequately defined.

"One of the most dangerous phrases in the history of this country (is) `in violation of community standards,'" Hentoff said.

Meese contended that community standards work if care is taken not to impose "artificial standards."

He also praised the First Amendment, saying it allows citizens to protect themselves from harmful materials.

"For 200 some-odd years, the courts have been on my side," he said.

"Nobody wants to censor what people read if there is the slightest chance that it is protected material under the First Amendment."

Meese said for years, court decisions have recognized limits to what is protected by the First Amendment, such as libel, slander and false advertising.

He said the key is balance.

"People should be allowed to make the rules and set the boundaries," he said.

On the issue of naming rape victims in the media, Hentoff contended that the names of rape victims should be published along with the names of the alleged rapist.

"If you name the man, then he has the right to know who his accuser is and so do the newspaper readers," Hentoff said.

Meese said "voluntary restraint" should be used by the media when considering publishing the names of rape victims, not governmental control.

He said the William Kennedy Smith case in which several news organizations published the name of an alleged victim should not set a precedent.

"There has been much public outcry against" naming rape victims in the press, he said, adding he doesn't think the Smith case will become a "prototype" for such cases.

Meese is now a distinguished fellow at the Heritage Foundation and the Hoover Institution and is the author of a nationally syndicated column.

Hentoff writes a weekly column on the First Amendment and the Bill of Rights for the Washington Post. He has been with the Village Voice since 1958.