SUPREME COURT MAKES EASIER FOR BACA TO SUPPORT ABUSE VICTIMS

BACA Has Right to Help Victims!
Central Utah Chapter - Utah
Daily Herald - Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Members of Bikers Against Child Abuse try to be there for abuse victims, offering support any way they can.

Now, a U.S. Supreme Court decision could make it easier for the group to be there when child abuse victims testify in court. It recently ruled that court spectators wearing photo buttons did not prejudice a jury against a murder suspect.

The case, Cary v. Musladin, dealt with charges that a California resident's right to a fair trial was violated by the relatives of a victim wearing buttons depicting the murdered man. Matthew Musladin's attorneys claimed that the display swayed jurors and caused them to convict him of murder, thereby violating his right to a fair trial.

The high court found that the buttons were not prejudicial to Musladin's case, and threw out his claim. This ruling could make it easier for BACA members to wear the group's distinctive T-shirts and leather jackets when they attend court hearings to offer support to abuse victims. Clothes, like buttons, are a matter of personal expression.

BACA has been confronted by defense attorneys who claim the group's biker regalia prejudices juries against accused child abusers. Some judges have bought this argument and have ordered BACA members to either lose the leather or stay out of the courtroom. J.P. Lilly, BACA's founder, said that happens about 10 percent of the time BACA members try to support an abuse victim in court. That's too often.

BACA members say they're not in court to intimidate a defendant or sway a jury, but rather to give courage to a victim who is standing up to her abuser. Often, members of a victim's family cannot be in the courtroom to provide moral support because they are on witness lists that bar them from listening to testimony. The victim would have to be in court alone if not for BACA.

Many adult crime victims say testifying in court is a frightening and intimidating experience. Imagine how much more difficult it is for a child who has to sit within a few feet of her attacker while a defense attorney attempts to break her down in a room full of strangers. Without some friendly faces in the courtroom, some of these little ones will crack, and justice will be denied.

BACA does a great service by reinforcing the will of the victim. A view of BACA members sitting the courtroom lends a feeling of safety. The leather jackets and biker shirts make the BACA members more recognizable to the witness and serve as a visual security blanket. It's hard to imagine how jurors, who are concentrating on the testimony and evidence, are going to be influenced by a spectator's jacket or T-shirt.

The high court's ruling on photo buttons does not strip judges of their authority to maintain decorum in a courtroom. Judges can still bar spectators who hold up signs proclaiming the guilt of the accused or who otherwise disrupt court proceedings.

Now we know that photo buttons are not a disruption. Nor are leather jackets. Like the buttons, they express support for a crime victim. So long as BACA members are respectful in courtrooms, there is no reason to exclude them.

On the contrary, there are plenty of good reasons to include them. If photo buttons do not prejudice a jury, neither do leather jackets.