NATION
O.J. WALKS
The nation came to a standstill on Tuesday as Americans from the President on down--57% of the country, according to one poll--tuned in to hear the jury's decision in the O.J. Simpson double-murder trial. Coming with unexpected swiftness, after less than four hours of deliberation, the not-guilty verdict by the mostly black jury caused a whiplash of reaction--from stunned disbelief to ecstatic cheers of joy. The immediate postmortems polarized along racial lines even as the first jurors to speak to the press said they had based their decision strictly on the prosecution's failure to present convincing evidence.
THE POPE LANDS IN AMERICA
On his latest visit to the U.S., Pope John Paul II went to New Jersey, New York and Maryland and brought to the United Nations an appeal for cultural diversity. He told his American audiences not to ignore the poor and the vulnerable, and he reiterated many of the themes--including his steadfast opposition to abortion--that have led to the greatest paradox of his papacy in the U.S.: widespread dissent from many of his teachings on morality but immense affection for him personally.
A PRESIDENTIAL APOLOGY
President Clinton issued a rare statement for a President: an apology on behalf of the whole nation to the thousands of Americans who were subjected to secret radiation tests sponsored by the government during the cold war. The President accepted the recommendation of a special commission that some of the subjects, many of whom never gave their clear consent, be compensated.
MEDICARE MANEUVERS
The Democratic assault on the G.O.P.'s plans for a Medicare overhaul continued unabated. Attacking hearings on the subject as inadequate, rushed and stacked, Democrats walked out of a House Commerce Committee session devoted to the G.O.P.'s proposal, which seeks to channel more seniors into private insurance and HMO plans. Senate Democrats unveiled an alternate plan that they said would keep the current system intact and save $89 billion, a third of the sum advocated by Republicans.
HOLD THE PRESSES
Setting the stage for a First Amendment appeal all the way to the Supreme Court, an Ohio federal judge affirmed his initial ruling barring Business Week from publishing an article on a pending lawsuit filed by Procter & Gamble against Bankers Trust. The ruling is a classic example of unconstitutional prior restraint, according to the magazine. The censored article was based on documents under court seal in the lawsuit. In an ironic twist, however, Judge John Feikens unsealed the documents in his new decision--thus enabling the magazine to belatedly print its story, though it lost the legal argument.
ATTENTION, FEMALE CADETS
The Supreme Court agreed to decide in the next few months another high-profile issue: whether state-supported and all-male Virginia Military Institute must admit women. The sex-discrimination case, whose outcome will also affect efforts by the Citadel in South Carolina to keep out women, will be decided by an eight-member bench; Justice Clarence Thomas disqualified himself because his son is a V.M.I. senior.
A BLACK GENERATION IN TROUBLE