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Yes, rape shield laws do protect previous sexual conduct unless it's for physical evidence (as opposed to hearsay) or the woman has a previous sexual history with the person on trial. I don't see the point of this whole thing. It sounds like the judge was worried he couldn't keep his own court room under control and went too far one way to try to compensate. Sounds like a bad judge and nothing more. I don't think many others will be following his path.
On a side note, dksuddeth, you may want to read up on what a circus trials were in the colonial era when juries had the power to find fact and law. What "legal system" they had could be changed at will by a sympathetic jury regardless of what the law was. The current system may not be perfect, but it's a hell of a lot better than letting layman juries find both fact and law.
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