DATE: Friday, June 13, 1997                 TAG: 9706130793

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A6   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS

DATELINE: NEW YORK                          LENGTH:   49 lines

MOST IN POLL SAY MILITARY IS PREJUDICED IN SEX CASES 73% IN SURVEY OF 1,016 ADULTS FEEL ADULTERY SHOULD NOT BE TREATED AS CRIME.

Six in 10 Americans believe the military applies its rules of sexual conduct to men and women unevenly, an Associated Press poll indicates.

By 51 percent to 35 percent, Americans say marital infidelity should not disqualify a person from a leadership position, an issue in the selection of a new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Even more, 73 percent, think adultery should not be punished as a crime.

There is disagreement about which way the sexual double standard cuts: 47 percent believe the military is stricter with women and 13 percent say it's stricter with men. Only 25 percent think there's evenhanded treatment; the rest are unsure.

The poll of 1,016 adults was taken last Friday through Tuesday by ICR of Media, a Pennsylvania suburb of Philadelphia. Results have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

A majority of women, people over 35 and people who have either served in the military or have a service member or veteran in the family say the military is tougher with women.

One expert on military life blames this concern on the publicity given to the discharge of 1st Lt. Kelly Flinn, the first female B-52 pilot, who resigned rather than face a court-martial for adultery, disobeying an order and lying to her commander.

``I think the survey reflects the misperception in the public that Kelly Flinn was held to a double standard. That's gospel now,'' said Charles Moskos of Northwestern University.

The military's enforcement of its strict rules on sexual conduct came to the fore last week when Defense Secretary William Cohen said an Air Force general who admitted a decade-old extramarital affair could still be a candidate for chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Gen. Joseph Ralston withdrew Monday from consideration for the top military position.

In the poll, half said the military should enforce its standards rigidly, while 40 percent favored flexibility.

As for adultery, 78 percent say it is always wrong for a married person to stray, and an additional 8 percent say it's almost always wrong.

``Although most people oppose adultery, we've come a long way from `The Scarlet Letter,' '' said Andrew Cherlin of Johns Hopkins University, who has written several books on American family life.

``People think that adultery has serious consequences for marriages, but not for people's careers. Most people would see adultery as grounds for divorce, but they don't see it as grounds for firing people from their jobs.''

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