'Sex in public toilet is a private affair'

Published on Wednesday 16 January 2008 21:00

IN AN effort to help an embattled US senator, the American Civil Liberties Union is arguing that people who have sex in public toilets have an expectation of privacy.

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

The Republican senator was arrested by an undercover police officer who said Craig tapped his feet and swiped his hand under a stall divider in a signal that he wanted sex. Craig has denied that, saying his actions were misconstrued.

The ACLU has filed a brief 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 him to have sex, the ACLU argued, his action would not be illegal.

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 toilet cubicle expect privacy.