Larry Craig Goes Back to Washington

He's right; he's still a sitting U.S. Senator who has to take care of Senate business. This has the added bonus of displaying defiance in public and emphasizing his contention that he's done nothing wrong.

If only he was this public with his sexuality from the beginning, he might not be in trouble today.

At a D.C. party luncheon Craig attended with his colleagues, Steve Benen reports Senator Orrin Hatch saying "I don’t think there was any underlying crime…. [I think] a good lawyer could win that case."

Hatch wasn't exactly a Craig supporter when the scandal broke. Does this indicate a softening of the GOP stand on his resignation? Did the GOP overreact in swiftly demanding he resign? It would be interesting to see what the GOP would do if Craig's guilty plea to disorderly conduct is overturned on appeal.

Meanwhile, the ACLU has filed a court brief on behalf of Craig:

In its brief, the ACLU argues that the government can arrest people for soliciting public sex only if it can show beyond doubt that the sex was to occur in public. The ACLU argues that solicitation for sex in a private place is protected speech under the First Amendment, no matter where the solicitation occurs.

The sting operation used by Minneapolis airport police was unconstitutional and was so broad that innocent people could be caught up in it, said Anthony Romero, executive director of the ACLU.

"It is not a crime to solicit sex that would occur in private," Romero said. "It is a crime to solicit sex that would occur in a public place. What the state failed to show was that Senator Craig clearly expected to have sex in public."

The ACLU brief also argues that there are plenty of less-invasive ways for law enforcement to stop nuisance behavior, such as posting signs warning people that sex is banned in the restroom and sending in uniformed officers to patrol.

Hard to argue with that, unless you also believe that smarmy guys who solicit straight sex in bars and clubs is similarly guilty of a criminal offense.



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