1/06/92 Newsweek, pp.7-8 LETTERS Palm Beach Spectacle Whatever happened between alleged rapist William Kennedy Smith and his ac- cuser we will never ~KNOW~ ("The Trial You Won't See, NATIONAL AFFAIRS, Dec. 16). But it is not major news. The Kennedys are merely a family who, a generation ago, produced a few significant politicians. I am no more ~INTERESTED~ in their offspring than in those of the Reagans, Carters or Fords. I am, however, ~CONCERNED~ about Americans who cannot find Estonia on a globe, yet can describe every lurid detail of a sex act that took place last spring in Florida. And I am desperately ~TIRED~ of seeing the media fuel such ~STUPIDITY~. JANE RHODES TODD Eureka, Calif. The Smith trial ~SENDS~ a clear message to women that they can no longer be alone with a man at any time unless they are ~PREPARED~ to have sex with him. Should a rape ensue, after all, it will be his word against hers. And his word will be honored. MARIANNE MIRO Burbank, Calif: How dare you claim that testimony concerning the Palm Beach accuser's prior abortions and a photo of her wearing a suggestive T shirt would have contributed to ~ASCERTAINING~ the truth in the Smith trial? As you rightly state, the truth would have been served if the judge had allowed testimony from the three women who said Smith had sexually accosted them in the past. A history of sexual assault might have been ~ESTABLISHED~. But unless she had a record of falsely crying rape, the accuser's psychological, sexual and reproductive history is absolutely immaterial. BONNIE COFFEY-MYERS Indianapolis, Ind. By advocating that the identity of Smith's accuser- and all alleged rape victims- be revealed in the media ("Remove That Blue Dot,' NATIONAL AFFAIRS, Dec. 16), David A. Kaplan implies that the public has the right to ~KNOW~ the names and faces of those who file rape charges. There is no such right. The television-viewing and news-reading public is not a jury; only a jury is entitled to see the accuser so it may ~GAUGE~ her credibility from her facial expressions. Public curiosity does not justify the pain and humiliation the victim will suffer long after the trial has ended. ED SHIMAN Eugene, Ore. NEWSWEEK and almost all of the media have carefully protected the rights of the alleged victim in the Palm Beach rape case by hiding her identity. But it ~LOOKS AS ~ though the real victim was the one who was acquitted- Smith! Isn't an accused man's reputation as important to protect as anyone else's? MICHAEL RUBIN Elizabeth, N.J. Your piece debating whether or not to publish the names of rape victims stubbornly ~IGNORES~ the only option that makes sense: publish neither the name of the victim nor that of the accused, since both risk being stigmatized. The ideal "innocent until proven guilty" demands nothing less. JESS SCHILLING Huntingdon, Pa.