A California appeals court recently ruled "family values" could be considered "hate speech," but now a judge in Nebraska has gone even further, banning the use of the words "rape" and "sexual assault" during a trial for a man accused of sexual assault.

The new order comes from Jeffre Cheuvront, a district judge in Lancaster County, who granted a defense motion to ban such words. A defense lawyer, Clarence Mock, told the Lincoln Star-Journal those references should be restricted to keep the trial fair.

"Rape" is not even a legal term, he noted. And while "sexual assault" is, that references something only the jury can determine, he said.

"Under the rules of evidence, witnesses can't reach legal conclusions," he told the newspaper.

(Story continues below)

But the judge also rejected a motion from prosecutors to ban the words "sex" and "intercourse," because they imply consent, and the woman who brought the complaint, Tory Bowen, said that leaves her being forced by the judge to commit perjury.

"The word 'sex' implies consent," she said. "I never once would describe (what happened) as sex. He's making me commit perjury."

The encounter happened Oct. 31, 2004.

"In my mind, what happened to me was rape," said Bowen, 24. "I want the freedom to be able to point (to Safi) in court and say, 'That man raped me.'"

But Mock said removing the words to which he objected will leave the case to "turn on the facts."

"Using words like 'rape' creates unfair prejudices for defendants and invades the [duties] of the jury," he said.

On trial for the second time is Pamir Safi, 33. A November trial ended in a hung jury.

Bowen testified for nearly 13 hours then, when "victim" and "assailant" also were banned, and said the impact was "huge."

Jurors will think she's choosing to use the word "sex," she said.

Earlier testimony showed the two were strangers who met at a Lincoln bar the night of Oct. 30, 2004. They had drinks and left together about 1 a.m. Police reports show Bowen told an investigator the following day she could not remember most of the previous evening and that she did not willingly accompany Safi.

Prosecutors later filed the sexual assault charge on the grounds Safi knew Bowen was too intoxicated to consent to sex.

Wendy Murphy, of the New England School of Law in Boston, said the ban could be powerful.

"It's very difficult to explain why jurors feel the way they do," she said. "The point is, language is so passively absorbed they don't even know it."

She said banning the word "rape" is unprecedented and said such a restriction on witnesses "impugns their candor, their credibility."

"Jurors will go back to their room and say, 'She didn't feel it was harmful. After all, she called it sex,'" Murphy told the newspaper. "It's like saying to a robbery victim, 'You can’t say you were robbed, because that's a legal judgment. You can only say you gave your stuff to the defendant.' That's absurd."

Prosecutors said they disagreed with the order, but will follow it.

The earlier ban on "marriage" and "family values" was imposed by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in California, which found municipal employers could censor such words because they are hate speech and could scare workers.

"To allow the lower court's ruling to stand exposes every public employee to outright censorship by a municipal employer for merely mentioning words such as the 'natural family,' 'marriage,' 'and 'family values,' issues which are at the forefront of national debate," said the Pro-Family Law Center, which is appealing the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"We are simply unwilling to accept that Christians can be completely silenced on the issues of the day – especially on issues such as same-sex marriage, parental rights, and free speech rights," Richard D. Ackerman, of the Pro-Family Law Center, told WND.

Related special offers:

Sen. Tom Coburn's "Breach of Trust: How Washington Turns Outsiders into Insiders"

"The Gay Agenda: It's Dividing the Family, the Church, and a Nation"

"Betrayed by the Bench"

"The Marketing of Evil: How Radicals, Elitists, and Pseudo-Experts Sell Us Corruption Disguised as Freedom"

Previous stories:

N-word fine, but 'family values' banned

9th Circuit endorses censoring Christians

'Natural family' called derogatory to 'gays'

Diss a 'gay?' Go to jail!

'Philadelphia 11' told 'gays' limited speech

'Philly 11' win round against 'gay' group

Philly group to protest 'Outfest' again

Judge drops all charges against Philly Christians

Judge rules against Christians who preached to homosexuals

'Philly 5' win 1 in court

Christian group gets obscene, hateful messages

Hate-crimes law infringes on 1st Amendment?

Benefit concert planned for 'Philadelphia 5'

Motion filed for Philadelphia protesters

'Philadelphia 5' arrests like 'Christian Rodney King'

Homosexuals planned Christian harassment

17-year-old girl part of 'Philadelphia 5'

U.S. attorneys complicit in arrest of Christians?

Philadelphia accused of 'abuse of power'

Prosecutor: Bible is 'fighting words'

City will prosecute Christian protesters

'Philadelphia 11' fighting back

11 Christians arrested at homosexual event