Wallace M. Barnett Jr. (February 7, 1931 – March 18, 2016) was an American politician,
women's rights
Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...
advocate, and
fire safety
Fire safety is the set of practices intended to reduce the destruction caused by fire. Fire safety measures include those that are intended to prevent the ignition of an uncontrolled fire and those that are used to limit the development and eff ...
advocate who represented
Nebraska
Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...
's 26th District in the
Nebraska State Legislature
The Nebraska Legislature (also called the Unicameral) is the legislature of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The Legislature meets at the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln. With 49 members, known as "senators", the Nebraska Legislature is the small ...
from 1971 to 1978. He went by the nickname Wally.
He is notable for introducing the first state
law against sexually assaulting one's spouse in the United States. Laws patterned on it spread to other states.
Early life
Barnett was born in
Lincoln, Nebraska
Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United Sta ...
in 1931 and attended the
University of Nebraska
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...
.
Before he was elected to office, Barnett was
firefighter
A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...
with the Lincoln Fire Department for 14 years.
He was among firefighters who were unable to save a mother and baby trapped in a burning house in
Havelock on the day after
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...
of 1965. After the fire Barnett declined to ride back to the fire station with his coworkers, and instead walked back to the fire station in his bunker gear. After his shift ended he laid down and cried. The incident deeply affected him, haunting him for decades.
Legislature
As a state senator, Barnett's main concerns were
juvenile justice
A juvenile court, also known as young offender's court or children's court, is a tribunal having special authority to pass judgements for crimes that are committed by children who have not attained the age of majority. In most modern legal s ...
procedures, women's rights, improved
highway safety
Road traffic safety refers to the methods and measures used to prevent road users from being killed or seriously injured. Typical road users include pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, vehicle passengers, horse riders, and passengers of on-road ...
efforts, and improved state
mental institution
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...
s.
He was chairman of the Judiciary Committee.
Criminal sexual assault law
Second wave feminist
Second-wave feminism was a period of feminist activity that began in the early 1960s and lasted roughly two decades. It took place throughout the Western world, and aimed to increase equality for women by building on previous feminist gains.
W ...
activists and
victim's advocates including Karen Flowers of the Lincoln Coalition against Rape encouraged reform of Nebraska's rape laws in the 1970s. In 1975 Barnett introduced a bill to repeal rape laws dating from the 19th century, and to replace them with a law using the term "criminal sexual assault" instead of "rape". This change in language applied to a broader range of unwanted sexual contact and was intended to make testimony less personal for those who were assaulted. The bill sought to "protect the dignity of the victim at all stages of the judicial process."
Unlike the old law, the new proposed law against sexual assault would have no exception for
spousal assault. The new law would use
gender-neutral language
Gender-neutral language or gender-inclusive language is language that avoids bias towards a particular sex or gender. In English, this includes use of nouns that are not gender-specific to refer to roles or professions, formation of phrases in a c ...
to designate the assailant and the person attacked, though Barnett was aware that women are more often targeted by sex criminals than men are.
Barnett's effort to outlaw spousal assault received strong support from Senators
Ernie Chambers
Ernest William Chambers (born July 10, 1937) is an American politician and civil rights activist who represented North Omaha's 11th District in the Nebraska State Legislature from 1971 to 2009 and again from 2013 to 2021. He could not run in 2 ...
and Warren R. Swigart. Outlawing spousal assault passed nearly unanimously in the Legislature, with only Senator
Glenn A. Goodrich voting against it.
The new law made Nebraska the first state in the United States with a law against sexually assaulting one's spouse.
Domestic abuse law
In 1978 Barnett introduced the Protection from Domestic Abuse Act. The law channeled welfare funding to emergency shelter and counseling services for those subject to
domestic violence
Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...
and abuse, and required law enforcement officers to attend training programs on domestic violence.
As of 2020 this law is still in force.
Eliminating anti-sodomy law
Barnett supported the repeal of
anti-sodomy laws. The legislature voted to revise Nebraska's criminal code in 1977 to remove the state's ban on gay sex. Governor
J. James Exon
John James "Jim" Exon (August 9, 1921June 10, 2005) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 33rd Governor of Nebraska from 1971 to 1979, and as a U.S. Senator from Nebraska from 1979 to 1997. A member of the Democratic Par ...
vetoed the revision.
Barnett talked with Exon, and discovered that the governor was fearful of "perverts, homos, and gays." Barnett made a motion to override the governor's veto. This was successful, making Nebraska among the first states to legalize same-sex intercourse.
Other legislation
Barnett drafted a bill to legalize
abortion
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...
in 1971, working together with NORAL, the Nebraska branch of
NARAL
NARAL Pro-Choice America, commonly known as simply NARAL ( ), is a non-profit 501(c)(4) organization in the United States that engages in lobbying, political action, and advocacy efforts to oppose restrictions on abortion, to expand access to ...
. The bill was never introduced because it had little hope of passing. Barnett hoped that instead abortion could be legalized in court, because he felt that laws like Nebraska's were unconstitutional. His prediction would come true in 1973's ''
Roe v. Wade
''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States conferred the right to have an abortion. The decision struck down many federal and st ...
'' court decision.
Barnett sponsored a measure requiring keepers of city jails to keep medical records of any procedures done to inmates.
Later life
After deciding not to seek another term in the legislature, Barnett became the Nebraska State
Fire Marshall
A fire marshal, in the United States and Canada, is often a member of a state, provincial or territorial government, but may be part of a building department or a separate department altogether. Fire marshals' duties vary but usually in ...
in 1978.
In 1991 he was called an "unsung fireworks hero" by the owner of Nebraska's largest fireworks business because his tough but fair approach to
fire safety
Fire safety is the set of practices intended to reduce the destruction caused by fire. Fire safety measures include those that are intended to prevent the ignition of an uncontrolled fire and those that are used to limit the development and eff ...
had made the fireworks industry safer. Barnett advocated for fire safety throughout his life.
He later served as
Nebraska State Capitol
The Nebraska State Capitol is the seat of government for the U.S. state of Nebraska and is located in downtown Lincoln. Designed by New York architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue in 1920, it was constructed of Indiana limestone from 1922 to 193 ...
head of Security. Barnett died in 2016 and was buried at Lincoln Memorial Park in his home city of Lincoln.
Legacy
Other US states eliminated marital exceptions to rape laws in the 1970s, patterned on Nebraska's example in some cases. By 1993 all 50 states had made spousal sexual assault unlawful.
The law against spousal sexual assault that Barnett introduced was upheld and solidified by a
Nebraska Supreme Court
The Nebraska Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Nebraska. The court consists of a chief justice and six associate justices. Each justice is initially appointed by the governor of Nebraska; using the Missouri Plan, each just ...
decision in 1986. This decision overturned a legal doctrine called "irrevocable consent" and confirmed that there is no spousal immunity for sexual assault in Nebraska. The court consulted the legislative transcripts of Senators Barnett and Chambers in affirming the intent of the law, and affirmed the arguments of feminist anti-rape activists, recognizing sexual assault as an act of violence rather than sexual passion.
Disturbed for decades by memories of the deaths by fire he witnessed as a firefighter, Barnett sought a way to prevent similar stress reactions in other firefighters.
In 1987 he established the Nebraska Critical Incident Stress Debriefing Program, which provides volunteer peer crisis support to
first responders
A first responder is a person with specialized training who is among the first to arrive and provide assistance or incident resolution at the scene of an emergency, such as an accident, disaster, medical emergency, structure fire, crime, or terr ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnett, Wally
Politicians from Lincoln, Nebraska
Nebraska state senators
20th-century American politicians
1931 births
2016 deaths