ACLU: Sex In Restroom Stalls Is Private
Ex-presidential candidate John Edwards speaks outside a federal courthouse as his daughter, Cate Edwards, left, and father Wallace Edwards, listen after his campaign finance fraud case ended in a mistrial Thursday, May 31, 2012 in Greensboro, N.C. Jurors acquitted Edwards on one charge and deadlocked on the other five, unable to decide whether he used money from two wealthy donors to hide his pregnant mistress while he ran for president and his wife was dying of cancer. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton) / Chuck Burton
In an effort to help Sen. Larry Craig, the American Civil Liberties Union is arguing that people who have sex in public bathrooms have an expectation of privacy.
Craig, of Idaho, is asking the Minnesota Court of Appeals to let him withdraw his guilty plea to disorderly conduct stemming from a bathroom sex sting at the Minneapolis airport.
The ACLU filed a brief Tuesday supporting Craig. It cited a Minnesota Supreme Court ruling 38 years ago that found that people who have sex in closed stalls in public restrooms "have a reasonable expectation of privacy."
That means the state cannot prove Craig was inviting an undercover officer to have sex in public, the ACLU wrote.
The Republican senator was arrested June 11 by an undercover officer who said Craig tapped his feet and swiped his hand under a stall divider in a way that signaled he wanted sex. Craig has denied that, saying his actions were misconstrued.
The ACLU argued that even if Craig was inviting the officer to have sex, his actions wouldn't be illegal.
"The government cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Senator Craig was inviting the undercover officer to engage in anything other than sexual intimacy that would not have called attention to itself in a closed stall in the public restroom," the ACLU wrote in its brief.
The ACLU also noted that Craig was originally charged with interference with privacy, which it said was an admission by the state that people in the bathroom stall expect privacy.
Craig at one point said he would resign but now says he will finish his term, which ends in January 2009.
© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Craig, of Idaho, is asking the Minnesota Court of Appeals to let him withdraw his guilty plea to disorderly conduct stemming from a bathroom sex sting at the Minneapolis airport.
The ACLU filed a brief Tuesday supporting Craig. It cited a Minnesota Supreme Court ruling 38 years ago that found that people who have sex in closed stalls in public restrooms "have a reasonable expectation of privacy."
That means the state cannot prove Craig was inviting an undercover officer to have sex in public, the ACLU wrote.
The Republican senator was arrested June 11 by an undercover officer who said Craig tapped his feet and swiped his hand under a stall divider in a way that signaled he wanted sex. Craig has denied that, saying his actions were misconstrued.
The ACLU argued that even if Craig was inviting the officer to have sex, his actions wouldn't be illegal.
"The government cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Senator Craig was inviting the undercover officer to engage in anything other than sexual intimacy that would not have called attention to itself in a closed stall in the public restroom," the ACLU wrote in its brief.
The ACLU also noted that Craig was originally charged with interference with privacy, which it said was an admission by the state that people in the bathroom stall expect privacy.
Craig at one point said he would resign but now says he will finish his term, which ends in January 2009.
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Posted by gunnerv1
Problem is the Supreme Court of the relevant state, Minnesota, appears to disagree with your viewpoint, as the ACLU has pointed out.
What the Minnesota Supreme Court has previously decided in such matters is highly relevant to Craig''s legal defense.
What a "normal person" might choose to believe about the matter isn''t especially important.
Don''t blame the ACLU, it''s a question of Minnesota law.
Posted by mennowoman at 04:44 PM : Jan 16, 2008
Yeah, you "heard" it from the ones caught no doubt. The fact is, if someone is caught by police in a sexxx sting, odds are they were doing more with their mouths than saying "Hi"
Lying or Denial is the first refuge of a criminal, when that does not work, the stories and justifications really get inventive. If a man is caught in a sexxx sting, it would have taken more than words to get him to that point--no matter what your husband or any other man has told you.
Posted by mudrose at 11:37 AM : Jan 17, 2008
Double standards from the Republicans and you continue to judge others with standards people in your party don''t follow. What ever happened to live and let live ? What next a religious standard ? Oh wait - you have Huck !
Posted by tbweb at 02:40 PM : Jan 16, 2008
If his privates were gone, why did he want ***?
Posted by brianp55 at 02:15 PM : Jan 16, 2008
I do agree, however, are you sure he wan''t just stamping his foot in frustration and reaching his hand under to ask for toilet paper?
HEHEHEHEHEHEHEH