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Loading ...Larry Craig loses appeal in airport gay sting case
12.09.2008 1:17pm EST
(Minneapolis, Minnesota) A three-judge panel of the Minnesota Court of Appeals on Tuesday rejected Sen. Larry Craig’s bid to toss out his disorderly conduct conviction.
Craig, a three-term Republican from Idaho, pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in August 2007 after he was accused of soliciting sex from an undercover police officer in a men’s room at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.Sgt. Dave Karsnia 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.
Nevertheless, he pleaded guilty and paid a fine.
After his arrest and guilty plea became public, Craig held a news conference to say he is not gay and that he pleaded guilty only to avoid the scandal of a trial.
Since then, Craig has been fighting to withdraw the plea.
County District Judge Charles Porter refused, saying Craig’s plea “was accurate, voluntary and intelligent, and … supported by the evidence.”
Craig appealed that ruling to the Minnesota Court of Appeals
Craig’s attorney argued before the appeals court this September that there was insufficient evidence for any judge to find him guilty. Prosecutors said his guilty plea should stand.
The three-judge panel upheld Porter’s ruling.
Craig’s attorneys have not said if they will request the decision be reviewed by the full appeals court or if they will take the case to the state Supreme Court.
Craig, 63, a social conservative, supported both attempts to advance a proposed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and opposes adding sexuality to the groups covered under hate crime laws and to a bill protecting LGBT workers.
Craig has faced rumors about his sexuality since the 1980s, but allegations that he had engaged in gay sex had never before been substantiated.
As publicity mounted, Craig first promised that he would resign last Sept. 30, then reversed his decision saying he would stay in office until his term expires in January. Craig did not run for re-election.
Can anybody really say that they are surprised that Mr. Craig has lost his appeal. I think not. Sadly, it is people like him who not only give a bad name to heterosexuals but homosexuals as well because a) he cannot, or doesn’t want to admit to himself that he is either one or the other and b) the longer he carries on this dishonest charade with his family, friends and peers, the more he is destroying his and their lives. Obviously, according to this article he has faced questions since the 1980’s regarding his sexuality, when does he plan to come clean? A very sad case really!
Safe to say, Craig’s future as Senator is toast. Now that the guilty verdict is upheld, the ethics part of the Senate will likely have something to say, his own party will wish he weren’t there, his constituents are not as likely to vote in enough numbers to return him office. And he has as he know, acquired a reputation that will follow him for a long time like a dog that won’t let go.
Larry, its called Karma. Enjoy!
Craig is a sleaze-bag, but I question the legality of the sting that caught him. Lawrence et al. v. Texas voided ALL sodomy laws in the US; by definition, it CANNOT be illegal to ASK for an act that is in and of itself LEGAL.
There was a similar case with the konservative kristianist college official and the Cincinnati PD long-running police sting in Mt. Airy Forest.
Asking for sex in a public toilet IS pretty sleazy, but it’s no sleazier than a man grabbing a woman’s ass in a “singles” bar (and that’s a GOOD deal more overtly sexual than foot-tapping) and NOBODY gets arrested for THAT.
Same with drug stings in gay bars and baths. Straight bars and swinger clubs SELDOM get busted.
I’m not saying substance abuse is right; I’m saying bust the breeders equally .
With the acute shortage of law enforcement personnel and dollars, I’m not sure the public safety is served by such patently illegal stings.
Bud Burgoon-Clark
San Diego CA USA
Bud, I almost agree with you. Yes, we are targeted for legal activity. How do you pick someone up if you fear it could be a cop? I thought the line was prostitution (as in the cinci case you cite)…but in Craig’s case, he wasn’t soliciting a prostitute. Clearly, there are situations where we are targeted for totally legal activity.
However, I’d been to that bathroom. What a zoo. I mean it is a bathroom in an airport, lots of straight people use it! I’m sure some people complained so they put a cop in there (did you see his picture..hot!) and of course he easily attracted attention.
I think straights should be able to go to the bathroom in peace, so this is a tough call for me. I don’t want them thinking when we want marriage equality, of those guys learing at them between the stall partitions.
If he had won, we might have scored in the do-not-arrest-us-for-nothing category, but the sleaz ball closet cases would have been emboldened.
Do we really want toe tappers representing our community?
Craig’s Lament
Gene S. Park
© 30 March 2008
Doing the wank in the loo
Tippy tappy too
Doing the wank in the loo
Two by two doing the wank
Tip tap toe from the hunk
Tippy tappy too am in luck?
Doing the wank in the loo
Tippy tappy too
Here I sit on the crapper
Doing the wank in the loo
I’ve been nabbed by a copper.
Doing the wank in the loo
Guilty I said. I’d pay
Doing the wank in the loo
Even thouh I am not gay
Tippy tappy too
Gene, put some music to that and Mr. Craig could have his next campaign’s theme song!
Gene, Neil’s right on, with the right music and tempo u could have a real “TOE TAPPER” on the top forty billboard chart!!!
Bud Hi again! Mostly agree, asking for something that is legal can’t be illegal unless another action makes it illegal. HUH! Money. u can argue that prostitution is restraint of trade and thus violates several state and federal free trade laws based on relgious beliefs. As a store clerk in NYC I would violate several laws by selling beer to an 18 year old who can vote or die for our country. DUH! Public sex HMMM? Would u want to be sitting in the bus shelter when the guy & girl next to u decided to transfer baby batter? Depends on the guy, right?
Dave Hi! Slippery slope there! What about Drag Queens, Dikes on Bikes and S&M Leathermen in gay pride parades? Not exactly home and hearth is it? Lets not forget it was the Drag Queens who ressited at Stonewall that got us where we are today! And as bad as it is today, trust me, it was worse then, gay killings didn’t make the papers whether the cops did it or not! A right is a right no matter what your sexual nature is. No pedophile priests were lynched that I know of! Gee, I like this! Its better than premium cable!!!
As I understand it, the crime is that the sex was supposed to occur in the bathroom itself, a public space. It is a crime to have sex in public in almost every corner of the USA. Both straight and gay. And while I’m sure that if bathrooms were co-ed, there’d be people tapping and waving in there too, I do approve of eliminating sexual activity in public bathrooms. What would have been completely legal is if Larry had met the guy at the airport bar and asked him back to the hotel room, or perhaps one of those sleeping rooms at the v.i.p. airport lounge. But that would have required face to face, direct communication, which Larry can’t do because he’s so ashamed and afraid to show his face in that context. Another example of how his closet door slammed on his fingers!