Nine years ago, comedian Seth Myers referred to the Mississippi Legislature as “30 possums hissin’ in a barn,” when it was revealed that what proved to be a clerical error meant Mississippi had not ratified the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery.
The state had enough sense to quickly correct the error, but only after Mississippi had again been exposed as America’s punchline.
Well, here we go again, folks, and this time the legislature is in no hurry to avoid embarrassment.
Tuesday was the deadline for advancing bills out of committee, something that means the end of dozens of bills each session.
But it’s hard to believe that House Bill 1080, authored by Rep. Dana McLean (R, Columbus) would suffer that fate, especially after passing in the House by a 119-1 vote before being sent to the Senate, where it was assigned to the Judiciary B committee.
HB1080 would have eliminated a sad and embarrassing relic from the 1800s by striking language in the law that allows marital rape. The bill also eliminates a condition that the person raped or sexually assaulted be of “chaste character.” In other words, the law says only virgins can be rape or sexual assault victims. Finally, the bill says a person who is incapable of consent, either unconscious or mentally/physically impaired, can be a victim of sexual abuse/rape. These are not radical ideas…Or are they?
Tuesday’s deadline came and went with HB1080 left to die in Senate Judiciary B committee
I’ll not reprise Myer’s description of that body as possums hissin’ in a barn.
It would be more accurate to say it’s a handful of hogs grunting over a sow.
You have to ask: What the (Joey) Filligane is going on here?
Fillingane, (R, Sumrall) is the chairman of the committee, a title that affords him the ability to arbitrarily advance or stall legislation assigned to his committee.
Asked by a Mississippi Today reporter for his reasoning in holding the bill, Fillingane flopped around like a fish on a hot sidewalk. First, he said he supported the changes the bill would make. Then the said there were several bills in this session aimed at changing rape and assault laws and that it would be better to hash them all out and get all those ideas put together in one bill.
If you’re not disturbed by a lack of urgency, you might be a male Senator.
Granted, Mississippi’s laws are likely rife with antiquated language and statutes that have long been abandoned in our courts. Following Fillingane’s logic, obvious outrages in that code should not be addressed as they are discovered. Better to wait. What’s the rush?
Really?
We realize that people are convicted of marital rape in Mississippi and that no victims must prove themselves to be a virgin at the time of their assault.
But the continuing presence of such language, especially when it comes to marital rape, gives prosecutors an option for reducing a rape charge to a lesser offense.
Likewise, we know that sexual assault victims remain subject to attacks on their character aside from whether they are virginal.
McLean said she believes there is opposition in the Senate to the idea of marital rape. Yes, even in the 21st Century, the idea that a wife is the sexual property of her husband persists.
If you really want to know why this embarrassing, misogynistic language remains in our law, look no further than the make-up of the legislature.
Women represent 51.5 percent of the state’s population, but just 15.5 percent of our legislature. Just two of the 15 members of the Senate Judiciary B committee are women. Neither of them are the committee chair or co-chair.
If we want legislation that treats more than half of our citizens as equal, it may have to start at the ballot box.
Until then, the hogs are gonna keep grunting.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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