Clarifying the ACLU position on the Larry Craig case

We received this interesting note from Doug Honig, communications director of the Washington state chapter of the ACLU, taking issue with the headline on a Clicker story today, linking to a NewWest.net story about Sen. Larry Craig. We've changed the headline, and below is Honig's elucidation of the issues. You can read the ACLU's friend of the court (or amicus) brief here. "Larry Craig was arrested under a law that makes it a crime to use offensive words. The ACLU has submitted an amicus brief in the case saying that talking about possible sexual encounters with other individuals should not be a crime. Using a sting to enforce that law is improper as well." "If officials want to address concerns about people having sex in restroom stalls, they should simply post signs saying that sex in public bathrooms is not permissible and violators will be prosecuted. "In the brief, we do mention an older state case in Minnesota which held that individuals who engage in sex in closed stalls in public restrooms have a reasonable expectation of privacy. However, the ACLU itself did not contend that sex in a restroom is protected privacy."