Larry Craig & ACLU: foot-tapping, hand gestures under stall dividers protected by First Amendment

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Sen. Craig will argue against constitutionality of his bust

Associated Press

Last update: October 26, 2007 – 8:31 PM



http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1510465.html

Idaho Sen. Larry Craig will argue before an appeals court that Minnesota's disorderly conduct law is unconstitutional as it applies to his conviction in a bathroom sex sting, according to a new court filing.

This is the first time Craig's attorneys have raised that issue. However, an earlier friend-of-the-court filing by the American Civil Liberties Union argued that Craig's foot-tapping and hand gesture under a stall divider at the Minneapolis airport are protected by the First Amendment.

Craig has been trying to withdraw his guilty plea to disorderly conduct. A judge turned him down earlier this month, and now Craig is taking his request to the state Court of Appeals. The Republican at one point said he would resign but now says he will finish his term, in January 2009.

Craig's legal arguments are previewed in a "statement of the case." It says that the judge erred by not allowing Craig to withdraw his plea and that the judge who sentenced Craig never signed anything saying he accepted the guilty plea.

[Adsos Letter]

1. Interesting...I should think my right to be left alone,

especially while doing something as private as relieving myself, would trump his attempt to "relieve himself..."

Somewhere along the way common sense has departed for parts unknown...

[Luminous Animal]

2. Nobody has a right to be left alone.

If that were true, there would be millions of men arrested for cat calls, etc.

[dflprincess]

3. One could argue that a person in a bathroom stall has a right to privacy

Craig's actions weren't limited to waggling his fingers under the stall. According to the report the officer filed Craig was peeking into the stall the officer was in before he went into his own. I think an individual's right not to be bothered by a peeping Tom would trump Craig's right to peek.

BTW, catcalls are harassment and can be feel threatening so perhaps millions of men should be arrested for that behavior. One of the advantages of getting older is that I can walk down the street without being verbally attacked.

[mockmonkey]

4. Sen. Larry asks

"Is it safe...





to Troll Airport toilets again?"

[Major Hogwash]

5. The ACLU wouldn't know shit from shinola unless someone told them about it first.

There are dozens, hundreds, of laws on the books that pertain to privacy - Craig broke the fucking law!!

Since when did the ACLU stand up to defend peeping toms?

Because that was the first act of violating the law that Craig committed.

The tapping of the feet, and the swiping of the hands underneath the stall divider were more acts that lead to his arrest for violating the privacy of the man in the next stall.

The ACLU is flat out wrong here. It wasn't just one act that Craig did for the officer to make up his mind to make the arrest.
It was several acts.

It wasn't just toe-tapping.
It wasn't just swiping his hand under the stall divider.
It was the combination of all of the acts that Craig did that told that officer that Craig was trolling for sex in that public restroom - and that's against the law.

[CyberPieHole]

6. GoLarryGoLarryGoLarry!

I prefer to see you go kicking and screaming...make the repubs squirm, Larry. MAKE THEM SQUIRM!


P.S.
If you lose this appeal maybe you can take your case to the Supreme Court to fight for the cause of cruising public restrooms. That may become YOUR raison d'etre.

:rofl: