THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Saturday, September 14, 1996          TAG: 9609140283
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B7   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 
DATELINE: ROANOKE                           LENGTH:   33 lines

FORMER STUDENT APPEALS RULING IN TECH RAPE CASE

A former Virginia Tech student has appealed a judge's ruling that rape victims cannot sue their attackers for damages in federal court.

U.S. District Judge Jackson Kiser ruled in July that Congress exceeded its constitutional authority by passing the 1994 Violence Against Women Act.

Christy Brzonkala, the first woman to sue in federal court under the act, contends Virginia Tech players Antonio Morrison and James Crawford raped her in their dorm suite in 1994.

The appeal to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in Richmond, was filed Thursday. Brzonkala's attorney, Eileen Wagner, said Friday that she will argue that Congress had the authority to pass the act because it is similar to civil rights legislation that allows victims of hate crimes to sue for damages.

Brzonkala claimed the attack, which occurred within a few weeks of the act's passage, was motivated by the players' hatred of women and was not a random act of violence.

The defendants argued that the law gave Congress police powers not intended by the Constitution and that if it were not thrown out, Congress could pass laws permitting any criminal suspect to be dragged into federal court for civil damages.

Brzonkala, who asked that her name be used, did not report the alleged attacks for several months and no criminal charges were ever filed. A disciplinary board at Virginia Tech cleared Crawford of all charges and allowed Morrison to return to school after a suspension.

KEYWORDS: APPEAL RAPE VIRGINIA TECH by CNB