The Montana Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence claims it is having some success in getting Montana retailers to cover up or remove copies of the Nov. 11 tabloid Globe. That's the issue that identifies the accuser in the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case.

"Albertsons and Osco Drug – including their Montana stores – have joined Walgreen's, Kroger's, Safeway of Colorado, King Soopers and the City Market of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming in pulling this issue of the Globe from their stores’ shelves," a news release says. Other major retailers were receiving a letter today, the release said. (The release also identified the group as the Montana Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence Coalition, which qualifies it directly for the Department of Redundancy Department Hall of Fame Hall.)

“The message that this edition of the Globe sends to victims of sexual assault is chilling," said Inga Nelson, the coalition's outreach coordinator. "Sexual assault is the most underreported violent crime in America, and Montana is no exception. Fewer than one in five victims ever report their assault to law enforcement.”

I haven't read the Globe and won't defend its handling of the story, but the larger issues here are a closer call than the coalition indicates. Rape victims are uniquely stigmatized among all crime victims, which is why newspapers historically haven't reported the names of alleged victims. I've always suspected that the failure to report only serves to perpetuate the stigma. But few editors are willing to break new ground on this touchy issue, even when the facts appear to be seriously in dispute, as they are here, and even when the alleged perpetrator will suffer great damage whether or not he's guilty.