Sex in restroom stalls is private, ACLU says

[Caitlain]

The ACLU says sex in a restroom stall is "private." Do you agree or disagree with that?

Sex in restroom stalls is private, ACLU says
Civil liberties group goes to bat for Sen. Craig
The Associated Press
updated 11:38 p.m. ET, Tues., Jan. 15, 2008

ST. PAUL, Minnesota - In a legal effort to help a U.S. senator, the American Civil Liberties Union is arguing that people who have sex in public bathrooms have an expectation of privacy.

Republican Senator Larry Craig is asking the Minnesota Court of Appeals to let him withdraw his guilty plea to disorderly conduct related to a bathroom sex sting at the Minneapolis airport last year.

Craig was arrested by an undercover police 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 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 the undercover officer to have sex in public, the ACLU wrote.

Even if Craig was inviting the officer to have sex, the ACLU argued, his actions would not 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 a 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.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22674564/

 

[Will E Worm]

Public sex is a term to describe sex in a public environment. The term is increasingly used to describe an act just outside a private residence regardless of whether it be strictly public (e.g. a toilet cubicle or cemetaries).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_sex

It's illegal and would fall under public indecency and indecent exposure.
He can do whatever it is he does in his home.

 

[D-rock]

I think it stretching it trying to argue privacy in a public place, and in one where other people can freely go from which they can hear and even see part of you.

 

[titsrock]

I disagree with the ACLU. It is not private. It is merely out of "plain view." Depending on the actual bathroom stall door...it might even be quite easy to determine what is going on in that stall--either sexually or *shittingly*.

Assuming that Senator Craig was going to participate in a sex act with another man, would he not make "sexual sounds"? Has anyone had inaudible, "silent" sex? Is it reasonable to expect that the noise emitting from the stall would not be discernible as being sexual?

I distinctly remember the 2 Carolina Panther cheerleaders who were arrested for having sex with each other in a public restroom.

Sen Craig was a dumbass for pleading guilty. That's his major mistake in all of this. I don't know what the hell these taps and hand signals mean...I think he could've gotten away with going to trial and attacking the police officer...imo.

In reality, the Sen was an idiot for having wanting to have sex in a public place.

 

[Dean Wormer]

The only reasonable expectation of privacy you have in a restroom stall is to be able to take a shit without being bothered by anybody. Oh and maybe jerking off but that's about it.

 

[ElStupido]

What do you expect. Its not private.

 

[Caitlain]

The MN Supreme Court disagreed with those of you who've asserted that it isn't private.

 

[senob44]

Sounds to me like the MN Supreme Court was afraid to reverse its ruling from 38 years ago. As others have touched on, we can't have people in public bathrooms having sex. Maybe if they could do it silently so other people are not subjected to hear their "sounds of sex". I'm sure most states have laws against having sex in a public bathroom and Minnesota is an "exception to the rule".

 

[AFA]

I think it invades the privacy of others, and can't you be arrested for going into the bathroom of the other sex? Crazy. I think there are also a lot more lousy places that are better.

 

[Smittmaestro]

More bullshit from the ACLU.

Oh but they are guardians for our civil liberties? Wrong!

Wanna fuck? Get a hotel room or wait till you get home.

Ridiculous!

-cs™

 

[Friday on my mind]

While I personally think the law is wrong if it states that sex in a public restroom is considered private, attacking the ACLU over it is really inapproriate IMO.They defend anyone and everyone when they they think their rights are being violated.Left or right they defend both equally when it is called for.Americans really should thank them for this IMO.

 

[pancha]

While I personally think the law is wrong if it states that sex in a public restroom is considered private, attacking the ACLU over it is really inapproriate IMO.They defend anyone and everyone when they they think their rights are being violated.Left or right they defend both equally when it is called for.Americans really should thank them for this IMO.

sounds more like they are trying to serve their own political agenda than they are defending anyone's rights! We have much more important issues to concern ourselves with rather than debate the idiodic actions of a Senator. Any heat he gets was brought upon by himself and therefore well deserved!

 

[titsrock]

The ACLU will do anything to get into the news. Their position doesn't sound like it has much of a chance to do anything but get their name in the papers.

 

[VidKing]

Adults aren't the only ones in public bathrooms. Public environments are supposed to be mindful of all people even children. The next time I'm at Disney World, I'll just start jacking it saying "Hey, it's a private place now bitches." "Some supreme court somewhere said I can have sex in a public place thereby making it private!" So, I'm gonna have sex with myself. That way I can have the whole park to myself. No more waiting in those ridiculously long lines! Or maybe me and Cinderella can get it on.

 

[AFA]

That what I mean. Same with the truck nuts. When you cross the line and infringe on someone else rights practicing "your rights", you know somethings wrong with the laws.

 

[ÆGEAN]

Public sex is a term to describe sex in a public environment. The term is increasingly used to describe an act just outside a private residence regardless of whether it be strictly public (e.g. a toilet cubicle or cemetaries).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_sex

It's illegal and would fall under public indecency and indecent exposure.
He can do whatever it is he does in his home.

i 110% agree

 

[YMIHERE]

How private can restroom sex be when it’s shown on the gloryhole website?

 

[sexslave1]

I even consider myself a card-carrying member of the ACLU (but I don't have an actual card). This a stretch at best. However, there is something to the merit that a locked stall can provide a reasonable expectation of privacy. So on the technicality of the law... the ACLU may have a legitimate claim -- as stupid as it may be.

 

[BNF]

"Public" bathrooms, for example at Disney, are not on public land, so in fact, are not public. Many airports as well are owned or managed by private companies or institutions - the "public" arguement does not stand.

 

[Mr. Daystar]

The ACLU says a lot of things. I think the ACLU are idiots, and attention whores, and only pick fights that they know they can win, or get them enormous news coverage.