lily
09-18-2007, 02:03 AM
Nope......your eyes aren't deceiving you. (http://www.ktvb.com/news/localnews/stories/ktvbn-sep1707-craig_aclu.e2ea4c9d.html)
ACLU files brief, claims Craig arrest unconstitutional
06:30 PM MDT on Monday, September 17, 2007
ACLU: It's OK to proposition for sex
BOISE -- Senator Larry Craig finds an unlikely ally in his fight against
criminal charges -- the American Civil Liberties Union.
The senator is not known for supporting the ACLU, but the organization is
supporting him, saying Craig's constitutional rights were compromised in a
men's room sex sting.
The ACLU filed an 11-page legal brief today, arguing the senator's arrest
was, essentially, illegal - a violation of his constitutional rights.
Craig was arrested in a Minneapolis airport restroom in June and pleaded
guilty to disorderly conduct.
The arresting officer says Craig tried to solicit sex from him by using
symbolic gestures known to those who engage in such activities -- a code, of
sorts, in which he tapped his foot and waved his hand under the stall
divider.
Craig vehemently denies there was any sexual meaning behind those gestures.
He is now trying to get his guilty plea reversed.
The ACLU is siding with the senator, but some legal scholars say it's a weak
argument.
"You do have the right to proposition sex that happens in private anywhere
in the country. That's protected free speech rights of Americans," said
Anthony Romero, ACLU.
"It's not the equivalent of asking someone for a date, it's the equivalent
of engaging in behavior that is in fact an invasion of privacy," said
Douglas Kmiec, Pepperdine University Law School.
Later this month, a judge is scheduled to hear Craig's argument for
reversing his guilty plea, a move which prosecutors are expected to oppose.
The irony of this ACLU support is that Larry Craig has voted against the
liberal rights group 76-percent of the time.
ACLU files brief, claims Craig arrest unconstitutional
06:30 PM MDT on Monday, September 17, 2007
ACLU: It's OK to proposition for sex
BOISE -- Senator Larry Craig finds an unlikely ally in his fight against
criminal charges -- the American Civil Liberties Union.
The senator is not known for supporting the ACLU, but the organization is
supporting him, saying Craig's constitutional rights were compromised in a
men's room sex sting.
The ACLU filed an 11-page legal brief today, arguing the senator's arrest
was, essentially, illegal - a violation of his constitutional rights.
Craig was arrested in a Minneapolis airport restroom in June and pleaded
guilty to disorderly conduct.
The arresting officer says Craig tried to solicit sex from him by using
symbolic gestures known to those who engage in such activities -- a code, of
sorts, in which he tapped his foot and waved his hand under the stall
divider.
Craig vehemently denies there was any sexual meaning behind those gestures.
He is now trying to get his guilty plea reversed.
The ACLU is siding with the senator, but some legal scholars say it's a weak
argument.
"You do have the right to proposition sex that happens in private anywhere
in the country. That's protected free speech rights of Americans," said
Anthony Romero, ACLU.
"It's not the equivalent of asking someone for a date, it's the equivalent
of engaging in behavior that is in fact an invasion of privacy," said
Douglas Kmiec, Pepperdine University Law School.
Later this month, a judge is scheduled to hear Craig's argument for
reversing his guilty plea, a move which prosecutors are expected to oppose.
The irony of this ACLU support is that Larry Craig has voted against the
liberal rights group 76-percent of the time.