Below the Belt: Sex is to rape, as kissing a hand is to a punch in the mouth.

Yes, the same body parts are involved in rape and sex (also in a kissed hand and a punch in the kisser), but with completely different motivation and impact. "Rape" isn't the only word the judge banned -- Cheuvont also prevented her (and the prosecutors) from saying sexual assault , victim , assailant , and sexual assault kit on the grounds that it might prejudice the jury.

Meanwhile, Tory is being forced to search for other ways to describe being raped. To describe what happened to her as sex, she says, feels like another assault.

Another scary part of this thing is that jurors aren't being told about the ban. Will they think "how can we convict him of rape, when the victim herself doesn't even call it that?" Even more frightening is that this approach is trendy -- Dahlia Lithwick at Slate reports that a growing number of defense attorneys are requesting that the word rape be banned in courtrooms, from the mouths of both prosecutors and witnesses, and judges are agreeing.

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