When it comes to Sen. Al Franken, sometimes it’s hard to tell if the joke’s on him or on all of us.

In early October, Franken — a former Saturday Night Live comic and now the junior senator from Minnesota — presented legislation designed to paint Republicans into an uncomfortable corner, to let him claim the moral high ground of standing up for women’s rights, and to enrich some of his biggest campaign donors. Specifically, Franken introduced an amendment to the defense appropriations bill that would bar the Pentagon from doing business with any contractor or subcontractor that requires its employees to submit to arbitration (and thus avoid court proceedings) over any civil-rights claims or actions related to sexual assault.

Franken and the Left styled the measure as “anti-rape” legislation, when in fact it’s really a thinly veiled gift to trial lawyers, to whom the Democratic party is largely in thrall. Federal law already precludes arbitration for such serious crimes, and the amendment would sweep in all manner of ordinary employment disputes.

 

That’s why 30 Republican senators voted against it. For their efforts, they were lambasted in the liberal blogosphere as “pro-rape” politicians harboring a deep-seated hatred for women. A scurrilous website emerged called RepublicansForRape.org, while Huffington Post bloggers and Jon Stewart teed off on the GOP’s supposed patriarchy.

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No matter that the Defense Department itself opposed the amendment, or that the Obama White House would go only so far as to support its “intent,” but not its content. Republicans would be made to suffer for Franken’s clever sleight-of-hand.

 

So let’s look in detail at the measure’s flaws. Here’s the relevant language:

None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used for any existing or new Federal contract if the contractor or a subcontractor at any tier requires that an employee or independent contractor, as a condition of employment, sign a contract that mandates that the employee or independent contractor performing work under the contract or subcontract resolve through arbitration any claim under title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or any tort related to or arising out of sexual assault or harassment, including assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment, or negligent hiring, supervision, or retention. (Emphases added.)

The amendment requires two categories of claims to be litigated in courts: anything arising under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act (underlined), and any tort “related to or arising out of” sexual assault or harassment (italicized) — a list that includes a wide variety of actions.

Let’s start with the italicized language, which was explicitly designed by Franken to reflect the horrifying situation of Jamie Leigh Jones, an employee of a Halliburton subsidiary who was (allegedly) gang-raped and imprisoned by her coworkers in Iraq. When she sued her employer in federal court, Halliburton sought to dismiss the case because of an arbitration clause in her employment agreement.