ACLU says Larry Craig was wronged

by AP News

ACLU: Sex in restroom stalls is private

ACLU Argues on Behalf of Sen. Larry Craig That Sex in
Restroom Stalls Is Private

Staff
AP News

Jan 15, 2008

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.