Lewinsky Calls for Parent-Child Privilege

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The federal government should guarantee parents protection against testifying against their own children, former White House intern and reality TV host Monica Lewinsky says.

In an opinion piece published in Sunday's Los Angeles Times, Lewinsky said it seemed appropriate on Mother's Day to urge Congress to establish a parent-child privilege.

"We have a husband-wife privilege, a doctor-patient privilege, an attorney-client privilege and even a privilege between priest and penitent," she wrote.

Lewinsky had a sexual relationship with President Clinton and discussed it in 1997 with her friend Linda Tripp, who secretly recorded the talks and handed the tapes over to investigators.

The tapes Tripp gave to then-Independent Counsel Ken Starr led to the perjury and obstruction of justice investigation of Clinton, his impeachment in the House and a Senate trial that acquitted him.

Lewinsky, who now hosts Fox's reality dating show "Mr. Personality," recalled the devastation she felt when her own mother was subpoenaed to testify in the Starr investigation.

"I was horrified and sickened," Lewinsky wrote. "Not unlike many young women, I had confided in my mom - to a certain extent - and expected our conversations to remain between us."

The reason I found Monica's call for a parent-child testimony privilege interesting is that a year ago I represented a 20 year old woman who was charged in a conspiracy WOD case with her mother and others. The U.S. Attorney's office had a good case against both the mother and daughter. However, because they wouldn't agree to testify against each other (evidence that was not needed for a conviction and which would not have taken place as both would have pleaded guilty), no plea agreement was reached. In addition, the government filed for an enhanced sentence against the daugter, increasing her minimum sentence from 10 to 20 years.

The bottom line was the two women who were on the periphery of the conspiracy received greater sentences than the men who were at the center of the crime. While I do not join in Lewinsky's call for such a privilege, I do find the government's actions in my case as improper. They did not need, nor did they intend to have the women testify against each other. The result that more culpable individuals received lesser sentences did not bother the prosecution in the least. As a former state prosecutor of nearly 15 years I find it disturbing and abusive.

The L.A. Times had diminished from a serious paper to something of a joke. They have repeatedly lent out their opinion pages to partisan hacks rather than serious thinkers (in two cases, to a psuedo-journalist who makes a living criticizing O'Reilly). Featuring Monica's editorial is another step towards morphing into a bland version of Entertainment Weekly.

Hard to consider anyone over 21 yrs. of age to be a 'child'. It would seem in Monica's case that her intellectual age is about 12 yrs. of age.

There was a recent case in NYC where a pair of grifters, mother and son, went around the country murdering people for their property. They were convicted in the murder of an elderly woman who owned the apartment building where they had rented an apartment. I am not sure if either testified against the other but I would be hard pressed to agree that either had immunity due to the parental connection.

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