….Legally speaking, that is.
More specifically, on Monday, the ACLU filed an amicus brief in behalf of Senator Larry Craig saying that Craig’s footsie-playing, hand-waggling arrest was likely unconstitutional.
What is more, those pesky, liberal ACLU-ers have an excellent point.
“It is not a crime to solicit sex that would occur in private,” [ACLU exec director] 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.
“Sen. Craig has not always been a great friend of civil liberties, but you shouldn’t have to endorse the civil liberties of others to keep your own,” said ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero, alluding to Craig’s history of voting against gay rights.
Right you are, Mr. Romero.
(photo from AP photo/file)
Here is a story from the Daily Breeze about a kid being killed in Harbor Gateway and the comments from some who say he was an innocent victim and then the last comets show the Myspace page of the kid’s friends, 204 St gang members. Welcome to the internet age.
http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/articles/9829782.html?
Fascinating….and sad, sad, sad. I followed your link to the kid’s myspace page. He’s 17, a gang member…and no more than a child.
All this and a 23-day-old baby shot near MacArthur Park. They mayor’s calling the shooter a “monster.” Wouldn’t that make it all easier to take?! More likely its some stupid little fool like this dead kid in the Harbor-Gateway story.
Seems to me, we’ve gotta have a better way to spend our bucks than to pay people to, at taxpayer expense, hang out in public airport bathrooms seeing who taps their toes where and how.
If Craig and the others were “engaging” publicly, that would be a very different story, which could affect boys who had no choice but to see this encounter. But whatever Craig was doing, was meant to be private, and if someone wasn’t peering under his door, it shouldn’t have become our business. EXCEPT that he’s a senator who apparently wrote legislation to ban homosexual behaviors, whatever…
But that doesn’t mean we should be paying people to entrap people in these activities. (WHAT is the job title of these dedicated gov’t employees, anyway: sit in the john all day? See if anyone taps your foot?) And meanwhile, here in L. A., we don’t have enough beat cops…
Speaking of which, Celeste, re: your point 2, I appreciate and feel what you’re feeling as a mother and activist who’s tried so hard to help these kids, but once someone is 17, and kills someone, he is no longer “some stupid little fool.” But yes, let’s prevent more of them from “happening” with fiscally-responsible intervention programs EARLY.
Doesn’t that quote from Anthony Romero just say it *all*. I imagine Craig might be somewhat conflicted about the ACLU filing an amicus brief on his behalf, and darned glad to have them in his corner. The universe has offered you a grace moment Mr. Craig. I hope you recognize it and are able to use it for your own growth. It’d be a waste of time off your life-clock if you can’t, or don’t.
I’m conflicted about if and how one legally controls the kind of behavior Craig apparently exhibited in a public restroom, but I’m glad to see that the ACLU has a wide stance on these civil liberties issues.
Perhaps we could forestall these situations if we created a watch list of people who take out books on bathroom sex from the public library.
reg, *groan* Could you possibly have put a few more puns/double entendres in there? 😉
The ACLU picks out an unacceptable action of a Republican to say, “See! See! We defend conservatives, too!” Bull. They’re defending an unacceptable crime, misleading people about their “fairness,” and manage to keep a disgraced Republican in the news for another, say, 13 months. Don’t tell me that you don’t see through that, Celeste.
The Georgia Dept. of Transportation had to shut down multiple rest stops along the interstates because homosexuals had taken them over as “meeting places”. So, people who are driving and tired and need a break have to keep driving because deviants took over the rest areas to engage in sodomy. Maybe the ACLU will find a Consititutional right for publicly funded sex stops. They certainly don’t look for any rights for normal people.
Here’s some people the ACLU have defended:
Oliver North
Rush Limbaugh
The American Nazi Party
Jehova’s Witness
Yeah, Woody they defend “token” righties.
Too bad they don’t defend bigoted ingnorami like you!
rlc, are you too stupid or blind to see that isolated defenses do not make up the overall mentally of the ACLU, but rather pretends to portray them as neutral. Why this is the same group who will protest a small Christian cross in the L.A. seal but want special government favors for Islamics.
Where was the ACLU when Nifong violated the rights of the accused Duke students repeatedly? Why they refused to even answer inquiries or comment on why they had not protested what Nifong was doing.
Oh, and to set you straight, the American Nazi Party is not a conservative group and doesn’t deserve to be mentioned in the same context as Oliver North.
LINK: ACLU defends O.J. Simpson
The ACLU defending Larry Craig doesn’t invoke much of a reaction from me. I remember when the ACLU came to the “defense†of some other pervert in Los Angeles because he wanted to see porn on the public library computers. Call me a crazy but I don’t think you have the right to look at pornography in a public library where children are present. And don’t think we should spend extra money to provide an adult only section so someone can use the public computers for looking at pornography, if you can’t afford a computer to do this at home, tough luck. My gripe with the ACLU is that they forget common sense when reviewing such cases.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54471
I wonder if Woody was listening to Air America today, to come up with the wacky conspiracy theory about the ACLU and Larry Craig, the ACLU has defended other perverts. Woody quit listening to those Air America conspiracy wackos.
Damn that Celeste (in a loving way of course) for having this blog, which I recently found and now read several times a day and often times feel compelled to comment.
The story about the kid, Mario Garcia who was killed in Harbor Gateway, always brings mixed emotions about these killings. The compassionate me wants to cry for this kid and ask, what are the reasons the kid chose the gang life style, knowing what the consequences of joining a gang might be. The battle sacred and hardened me says, this fool chose this life style and he knew what could happen and he may have been the shooter or perpetrator in other crimes against true victims so I will shed no tears for the fool. I am sure Celeste knows of a common drawing/painting among cholos/gangsters of the “smile now, cry later†clown faces. Goggle the words “smile now, cry later†if you don’t know of what I speak. I will not even pretend to know the answers or what is the correct response for these killings is.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-baby18sep18,1,7786057.story?
The killing of a baby by three gangsters only invokes one response towards the people responsible, I would be glad to be the executioner of these three idiots and murderers. Most people would have a difficult time finding any compassion towards these killers. When they are caught I am sure one of them will be very young and does not have the intelligence to know the consequences of his actions. The area where this shooting happened, is a “street†swap meet where hundreds of people are walking in the street until late in the evening. These idiots were very likely shooting into a large crowd of people. That also means there were many witnesses, this area is 18th street gang territory. I am sure the police already know who to start questioning and investigating. The other problem is that people are afraid to testify against the gang members, which is a real perversion of our justice system.
Excuse me Woody but what was the Civil liberties issue in the Duke Lacross rape case? It was a criminal matter and handled as such. As usual you miss the point. The issue in the nazi case was the right of nazis to have a march. The issue in Limbaugh was the ability of the state to pry in medical recors. For north it was using evidence that had been compelled from him in violation of the fifth ammdt – thru so-call “use Immunity”.
Do you see a pattern here? When the organizations feels that a constitutional right is being it intervenes. Otherwise it does not.
The shooting of the baby was a tragedy that apparently started as a dispute with some street vendor(s), who I understand are required to pay “protection” money to these hoods, just like the old Italian mafia used to do do their poorest immigrants.
These street vendors need to be restricted. This incident happened at 9:30 at night, so at the least, ban street vendors after dark when it’s easier for this violence to break out.
Maggie the gangs around Westlake have been collecting taxes from street vendor for years, so yes it is likely the shooting was because a vendor did not want to pay up.
What also makes me sick is that the Mayor and City councilman show up after a baby is killed and have ignored the root of the problem for years.
rlc: Excuse me Woody but what was the Civil liberties issue in the Duke Lacross rape case? It was a criminal matter and handled as such.
Prosecutorial misconduct and withholding of evidence deprived the Duke players of due process and the freedom to lead their lives. It was not handled as a criminal matter but as a political matter–a process that does not respect rights of the accused, especially when it is a black accusing a white. Where was the a href=”http://stoptheaclu.com/”>ACLU?
rlc, I made the mistake of thinking that you understood the law, but your comments on the Duke case and on Chemerinsky’s contract lead me to now know otherwise.
So anytime a cop or a DA shows misconduct it raises a constitutional issue? Good thing you chose accounting as your life’s work! BTW were the Duke players deprived of counsel? Did they confront their accuser? I think so but I’ll give you points for originality.
Oh, and one more thing. Check out the statutes on “color of Authority” violations. You might find them informative.
Even with the protection of a stroller, a 23-day old baby is now dead….all connected to the great game of tax collecting. The Gang units are not doing their job. The shooter should have been caught within hours. If you have good, outstanding, respected, and honest coppers working within the community, the local people-citizens or non-citizens (even the gangsters) would be dropping dimes left and right.
This is what LAPD gets for making all its experience and respected officers leave the Gang Units for forcing them to open up their personal financial histories. These cops never even come close to confiscating anything close to over $5,000-10,000 or above. Total bullshit.
Someone go tell C. Rice and Chief. “Payday” Singer to get their heads out of their asses and find some intelligent coppers to take back our LA City streets again. We are not asking that you bring back the old Rampart jackasses, but some good coppers-willing to do that extra work with the community.
I know for a fact, LAPD has the power to request top notch qualified people from various city and county agencies to take back our streets.
This is total bullshit.
This is as bad as IRAQ.
rlc, if some black guy on death row says that a DNA test or other evidence has been withheld by the D.A. that could prove his innocence, don’t you think that would rise to his Constitutional rights for due process? Why he could have had counsel and confronted his accuser, too. But, this goes beyond mere misconduct, such as the D.A. not even talking with the accused, Idiot. It goes to the heart of our system of justice and a fair trial.
I award your no points and everyone who read your answer is more stupid because of it.
Celeste,
Is the L.A. Weekly having a going away party for Daniel Hernandez? I would like to attend and enjoy a few drinks and appetizers. And afterwards I would like to toss that stupid ass Daniel Hernandez out the door hoping he never returns to Los Angeles, to write his stupid and asinine stories about fascinating gang graffiti.
L.A. Weekly Stupid Asst
‘
Celeste,
Is the L.A. Weekly having a going away party for Daniel Hernandez? I would like to attend and enjoy a few drinks and appetizers. And afterwards I would like to toss that stupid ass Daniel Hernandez out the door hoping he never returns to Los Angeles, to write his stupid and asinine stories about fascinating gang graffiti.
L.A. Weekly Stupid Ass
Is the L.A. Weekly having a going away party for Daniel Hernandez? I would like to attend and enjoy a few drinks and appetizers. And afterwards I would like to toss that stupid ass Daniel Hernandez out the door hoping he never returns to Los Angeles, to write his stupid and asinine stories about fascinating gang graffiti.
L.A. Weekly Stupid Ass
I’ll let you in on a little secret. The ACLU, like all law firms and legal services agencies has limited resources. Maybe you’ve of dicretion. I suppose you can find a constitutional issue in a traffic ticket. Come to think of a OC lawyer did raise that in Civil RICO suit he filed against the the Seal Beach Police Depot and also claimed violation of his 4th and 5th Amdt rights. Want the ACLU to come to his aid? Other groups like the Innocence Project are busy litigating the DNA front. Hey, let a thousand flowers bloom. And with that I will say no more as you’re getting ridiculous.
However, the resources of the ACLU are so great that not even cities can afford to go toe-to-toe with them in spending on litigation, so they give up without a fight. When the ACLU prevails, they get their legal fees reimbursed as part of the claim. They’re bullies with a left-wing agenda.
I’m not calling for the ACLU to defend anyone, but I correctly pointed out that, with only a few exceptions, they will defend “liberal” issues on the same consitutional points that they ignore and will not defend in “conservative” issues.
You don’t have to say anymore, as you never disproved what I stated, and your slight-of-hand to appear to have done that is what is ridiculous.
Woody,
Here’s a suggestion: you and your intolerant wingnut friends should move to Iran. Ahmadinejad said that they don’t have homosexuals there.
i agree all cops are the blame ,i bet that kid that was killed in harbor gateway must have not said something to a cop and was set up.i as alsmost killed by a cop twice ,once when i was fifteen and when i turned 19 a cop set me up and told every one i was a snitch so i would get killed , because i would not help him with his case , i quickly turned my life around and realized theres no more honest cops in this world .
it really doesnt matter what anyone writes on this site because nothing will never change it never has it never will