Paul Hammel and Zach Wendling
LINCOLN — Turmoil over comments made Monday night by a state senator — in which he described a violent rape while interjecting names of fellow senators — spilled over into the beginning of Tuesday morning’s session of the Nebraska Legislature.
Several lawmakers, including two conservative colleagues, called out State Sen. Steve Halloran for what they described as “inappropriate” and “hurtful” comments Monday night in which he read from a book describing a violent rape and repeatedly inserted the name “Senator Cavanaugh” amid the reading.
“We’ve got to be careful with each other. We are all human beings who deserve respect. We do not deserve aggression,” said Omaha Sen. Wendy DeBoer.
Dunbar Sen. Julie Slama, who has been open about being a victim of sexual violence, said it was wrong that the Nebraska Legislature doesn’t have policies — as in private businesses — to punish someone for saying something so inappropriate. She brought up an incident five years ago when then-Sen. Ernie Chambers implied that “favors of the flesh” led to her appointment to the Legislature.
‘Should be ashamed’
“It’s the one place where you can stand up and talk about raping a colleague and not have any consequences,” Slama said. “Senator Halloran, you should be ashamed of yourself.”
The comment was greeted with some applause from the gallery and from observers who were behind the glass wall at the back of the legislative chambers.
Halloran, when he rose to speak, apologized — not for reading the graphic description of a violent rape, but for “interjecting” a senator’s name while reading from the book, “Lucky,” which he said was required reading in some schools.
The Hastings senator, who is term limited from running for a third term this year, rejected the idea that he was “trivializing rape” by reading a “very ugly” section of the book.
“Should I have interjected a senator’s name? No,” Halloran said.
But he insisted, as he did Monday night, that his reference to “Senator Cavanaugh” was to State Sen. John Cavanaugh, the brother of Omaha Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh. Halloran said he also referenced Lincoln Sen. George Dungan before beginning his reading.
“Once the transcribers have transcribed what I read, I think you’ll notice that I first referenced them,” he said.
‘Maybe it’s PTSD …’
Other senators rejected that explanation and also said it didn’t matter who exactly he was referencing. They said that Halloran’s words worked to traumatize victims of rape who are in the Legislature or were watching the Monday night session.
Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh also said that Halloran, prior to speaking on the mic last night, came up to her and fellow Sen. Lynne Walz and began describing the rape scene from the book.
Omaha Sen. Brad Von Gillern said two members of his family have been victims of sexual violence, and he said the reading from the book — which continually mentioned the name “Brad” — served to revive memories of those nightmares.
“Maybe it’s PTSD … when you hear a story that brings back personal memories, hard memories, it doesn’t matter what gender you are,” von Gillern said, his voice cracking.
He added that he taught his children never to use the word “but” when giving an apology because it makes it conditional. It was a reference to Halloran’s apology.
Halloran said he called out senators’ names because they weren’t paying attention to the debate Monday night — the first night session of the session — on a bill related to obscenity that was being debated on the floor.
‘Wanted them to hear’
“I wanted them to hear what was in the book and what was being required,” Halloran said. “If you read the transcript it’s like a how to lesson on how to rape.”
About a dozen people showed up to protest Halloran at his office early Tuesday. State Sens. Robert Dover of Norfolk and Kathleen Kauth of Omaha talked with them, as did State Sen. John Lowe of Kearney.
Dover said felt as though everyone needed to settle down.
“We need to have decorum,” Dover said. “We can disagree to disagree, but we need to not attack each other.”
Kauth was not present during Halloran’s speech, so protesters played the audio for her. She focused on the book Halloran read from.
“So you think this should be available for kids?” Kauth asked. Protesters said the book passage should not have been read aloud at all.
Halloran, as well as those calling for his resignation, have freedom of speech, Kauth said.
The group confronted Halloran after he arrived and met with Speaker John Arch in the speaker’s office. One protester yelled at Halloran, “You’re a rapist through your words.”
The speaker of the Legislature, La Vista Sen. John Arch, began Tuesday morning’s floor debate with an apology for what was said last night.
He called on senators to not let it derail the rest of the legislative session, which has 14 more days in a 60-day session.
The Legislature, it was pointed out, could issue a letter of rebuke, pass a censure motion, or seek to expel a member, but none of those penalties was pursued Tuesday, despite talk of some punishment Monday night.
Call to ‘temper the toxicity’
Lincoln Sen. Danielle Conrad — a former director of the ACLU of Nebraska — called on colleagues to “temper the toxicity” and to call out inappropriate comments, not seek punishment. She reminded senators that what’s said on the floor is protected free speech.
But other senators disagreed and said they were disappointed that some lawmakers were laughing about Halloran’s comments last night.
Sen. John Cavanaugh called Halloran’s comments political “grandstanding.”
“You sexualized the people you work with for some effect,” he said.
“What happened last night was not OK,” DeBoer said.
Slama said the comments would get someone fired if they were working at a private company.
“Those comments where wholly inappropriate,” she said, adding that the Legislature lacks policies that protect lawmakers from “predatory” colleagues.