Word: bairds
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...early 1967, Ray Mungo, Editor of the B.U. News, contacted Baird, presented him with a petition signed by 679 Boston University students, and invited him to wage his next battle in Massachusetts. He came here in April, and promptly set his sights on the "Crimes Against Chastity" passage in the State Constitution, which he calls "among the most archaic, reactionary, and dangerous of any state law in the country...
...distributed tubes of EMKO foam to three coeds. That led to his conviction last week in Suffolk Superior Court on two counts--of showing and of disseminating contraceptive devices. The case is being appealed to the Massachusetts Supreme Court, and though it may not come up until next spring, Baird already has a plan for his defense ready...
...going to bring out the hypocrisy and dishonesty with which birth control matters are handled in this state," Baird says. Among his exhibits will be a paperback book he claims was purchased at the Coop entitled The Handbook of Birth Control, published by the Harvard Medical Research Association. He also may show a Time magazine with a cascade of multi-colored contraceptive pills on the cover. "The Massachusetts laws specifically forbid discussing or illustrating birth control methods," says Baird, "and yet the law was broken without punishment until I came along...
...Baird's vision of his own dramatic plight is strong: he sees himself romantically as a man of high dsetiny. "Six million people are watching Bill Baird as he's fed to the lions . . . I could do so much for this country . . . Twenty years from now the American people will thank...
Both the ACLU and Planned Parenthood have defenses. Though the ACLU refused to take on Baird's case, the organization still plans to submit an "amicus curiae," a legal expression of support, when Baird's appeal comes before the State Supreme Court. A spokesman for the ACLU argues that Baird's insistence on "educating the public" would only make sense if he were trying to change the law through the legislature. Since he decided on a court challenge instead, the ACLU felt that pre-trial publicity could only hurt his cause...