OTHERS FEEL THE LAW'S STING FROM PERJURY

While President Clinton thus far has managed to escape the consequences of lying under oath, Americans around the country are being found guilty of perjury not only in criminal matters but civil cases as well.

A case in point is that of a former Cape Girardeau woman who was found guilty of felonious perjury in a civil matter and was given the maximum sentence.

In the perjury case against Margaret Rose Gilmore of near Nashville, Tenn., Circuit Judge John Grimm of Cape Girardeau imposed a $5,000 fine and sentenced her to five years in prison, both maximum sentences. She also must pay court costs estimated at $1,000. The judge suspended the prison term and placed her on supervised probation. That means she will not serve prison time as long as she doesn't commit any crimes.

The perjury charge grew out of Gilmore's testimony in an adult-abuse hearing in 1997 to determine whether an ex parte order of protection granted to her husband, Joe H. Gilmore of Cape Girardeau, should be made permanent. Her husband had accused her of stalking, abusing and harassing him and claimed she had spiked his car's tires with nails and threatened him with violence. He also claimed that she had hired a locksmith to make a key to his house so she could enter without his knowledge, and once inside she went through his mail and searched the premises.

Margaret Gilmore denied the claims under oath during the hearing. But her husband had installed a video surveillance camera in his home and caught her actions on tape. The videotape and a recording of Gilmore's testimony at the ex parte hearing were played at her perjury trial.

The case is just one of many examples of what can happen to those who lie under oath, even in a civil proceeding. During the House impeachment proceedings, representatives heard testimony from a number of witnesses who received equally harsh sentences for lying in civil proceedings, and they described the consequences in their lives afterward. There are countless thousands of similar cases.

The oath to the tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth is the mainstay of the American justice system. Mr. Clinton purposely lied to a federal grand jury and tried to obstruct an investigation being conducted by special counsel Kenneth Starr, and for those actions he was impeached.

Many who argued against impeachment would have had House members believe that few prosecutors pursue perjury charges. That simply isn't so.

The president must be held accountable just like everyone else who has been found guilty of lying under oath. Anything short of that is unacceptable.