Feminist politics at work.

When accused rapist Brian Nichols was unhandcuffed for his arraignment in Atlanta's Fulton County Superior Court, he over-powered his solitary guard and seized the officer's firearm. While making his escape, Nichols allegedly killed four people--trial Judge Rowland Barnes, court reporter Julie Ann Brandau, Deputy Hoyt Teasley, and federal agent David Wilhelm.

After evading a less-than-effective police dragnet by using public transportation, Nichols eventually arrived at the home of Ashley Smith, a 26-year-old widow and single mother. Smith, as is now well known, spent seven hours as Nichols' hostage, calmly reasoning with him and sharing Bible-based insights that persuaded the fugitive to surrender to the authorities.

Ashley Smith displayed astonishing strength of character of a sort rare in people of both sexes. However, this entire tragedy may have been avoided if law enforcement officials in Atlanta had taken into account insurmountable realities about the differences between men and women where physical strength is concerned. Nichols was able to escape because a small-boned, 5'2" female deputy (a grandmother) had been assigned to guard the 6'1" muscular former college football player.

Television shows such as Alias and action films like Starship Troopers regularly feature scenes in which petite young females, deploying exotic martial arts techniques, beat up large, muscular men. Diverting though such sci-fi spectacles may be, the underlying delusions about sex-based differences in upper body strength and the capacity for violent aggression are literally fatal in the real world--as the Atlanta murder spree illustrates.

Why was Nichols assigned a solitary female security guard? The answer is a string of judicial decisions advancing the radical feminist notion that physical differences between the sexes are socially inconsequential--and that making allowances for those differences is impermissible. And as commentator James Fulford points out, "the fact that police forces are required by various laws to have women who can't handle the physical requirements of the job is thanks in large part to the legal activities of the Southern Poverty Law Center [SPLC]."

In 1977, the SPLC supported a lawsuit filed by Dianne Rawlinson, a 5'3", 115 lb. Alabama woman who wanted to become a "correctional employee"--that is, a prison guard. Boasts the SPLC's summary of the case: "At trial, the Law Center argued that the height and weight requirements had no actual relationship to the job requirements, and 33% of women would be excluded from employment as prison guards and state troopers by the statutory height requirements and 22% by the minimum weight requirements."

The trial court sided with Rawlinson, prompting an appeal by the Alabama Board of Corrections. Eventually the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the trial court's ruling, "agreeing that the height and weight requirements discriminated against women and bore no relationship to the job," recalls the SPLC. "The landmark decision opened doors for women to be hired in law enforcement jobs that had traditionally been reserved for men"--not to mention setting in motion policies that led directly to the Atlanta murder spree.