Newspaper Page Text
The Cop in the Stall is King
Civil Liberties at Issue in One of 2007’s
Mo& Memorable Political Tales: The Larry Craig Case
T he illustrated cover of the March
22, 1948 issue of Time maga
zine, titled "Communism's Beria:
The Cop at the Keyhole is King,"
depicts the chief of Stalinist Russia's secret
police, Lavrenti Beria, with his steely expres
sionless eyes, spying on us through a keyhole.
The cover article, "Communists," discusses
the "police state mentality" which pervades
in Communist regimes, "police states" where
they have "developed the sinister side of the
policeman's role much further than any democ
racy has." In Communist countries, the article
explains, there are "policemen of the soul"
whose "preventive policing is more concerned
with thoughts, attitudes, feelings, than it is
with overt acts." This "new kind of policeman"
necessarily "has to be everywhere"—including
at the keyhole.
The concept of a new kind of policeman, a
policeman of the soul, who is everywhere, is
fundamental to appreciating the civil liberties
issues raised by the arrest and investigation of
Idaho's U.S. Senator Larry E. Craig, whose saga
already has assumed legendary proportions.
The "crime scene"—the airport men's room
where Craig was arrested—has become a place
of pilgrimage for tourists, and a video of the
restroom is even available on the Internet.
Six Minutes
Last June 11, only six minutes after he
first encountered an undercover police officer
staking out a Minneapolis airport restroom to
investigate allegations of sexual activity in
that restroom, Sen. Craig was arrested by the
officer on questionable misdemeanor charges.
No words had been exchanged and no sexual
or indecent conduct had occurred. From the
arrest until his release about 45 minutes later,
Craig was subjected to custody, booking,
photographing, fingerprinting and custodial
interrogation. On Aug. 1, Craig, acting with
out a lawyer, pleaded guilty by mail to one of
the misdemeanor charges and was sentenced
to a fine and a suspended 10-day jail term.
Subsequently, Craig retained an attorney
and filed a motion to withdraw his plea.
The denial of that motion by the convict
ing court is now under appeal.
And what were the two misdemeanors
for which a U.S. Senator was subjected
to a bathroom arrest? A technical charge
of disorderly conduct, and an absurd
charge of interfering with the arresting
officer's privacy!
Although the universal view is that
Sen. Craig blundered stupendously in
pleading guilty without the advice of
counsel, it is not the purpose of this
article to re-canvass that issue. Nor is it
my purpose to explore whether Craig is,
in the words of Franklin Kameny, "a self-
deluding hypocritical homophobic bigot."
Nor, finally, is it my purpose to critique
the handling of Sen. Craig's case by the
Minnesota courts.
Instead, this article focuses on the
evils of police practices on exh.bit in
Craig's case. These police practices, used I
to ensnarl Sen. Craig and 40 others, sug- |
gest that the United States is joining the S
ranks of the countries that cultivate the
sinister side of the policeman's role. American
police are acquiring a police state mentality.
“Preventive Policing"
The June 11 episode tells us a lot about
the dangerous notions American police now
have about preventive policing. Most unfor
tunately, police have embraced, as Bob Barr
observes, a dangerous "preemptive strike
syndrome" which includes an over-the-top
eagerness to make "anticipatory arrests,"
using the alleged commission of a minor crime
as the pretext for making the arrest. Police
now arrest toe tappers and foot-sliders whose
conduct, the arresting officer infers, signals an
interest in having sex.
In regard to the factual scenario of Sen.
Craig's activities in the restroom prior to his
arrest, we must remember that he did not
commit, and was never charged with, a spx act
or any indecent or lewd act. When we examine
his alleged acts, we are not dealing with vio
lent crime or sex with minors or nonconsen-
sual or public sex acts. Nor did he ask anyone
to commit such an act; he uttered not a word.
Police have never claimed that Sen. Craig
engaged in a sex act or indecently exposed
himself, and the senator was never charged
with committing, or attempting to commit, a
sex crime or the crime of indecent exposure.
Instead Craig was arrested on trumped-
up misdemeanor charges because alleg
edly he engaged irr otherwise innocuous
conduct—e.g., placing his travel bag
against the front of the toilet stall, tap
ping his toes, moving his foot up and
down and to the right, swiping his hands
under the stall divider—which the arrest
ing officer, based on his training and
experience, thought was "a signal often
used by persons communicating a desire
to engage in sexual activity."
We must also remember that the pri
vate sex acts of consenting adults are
constitutionally protected from crimi
nalization, as are simple requests by one
adult to another for private consensual
sex. Even if Sen. Craig had specifically
requested that the police officer, Sergeant
Dave Karsnia, go to a hotel room and
have consensual sex, no crime would
have occurred, regardless of whether
the consensual sex actually occurred. Of
course it is a crime to solicit public sex,
but Craig was never charged with any
thing like that—almost certainly because
it would have been impossible to prove.
Karsnia has never claimed that Craig solicited
sex from him, and no actual or attempted sex
acts or indecent exposure took place.
“Policemen of the Soul”
A police state mentality is also evidenced
by the bizarre decision of Minneapolis airport
police to stage the sex sting operation in
>■ continued on pa,ge 9
ream
appily
ewer a
ere
Join us for the 4th Annual Bridal Open I louse
offering tin- lines! wedding (mdosion.iL in Nnrthc.fst (ienrgia iiu hiding |>hntngr.i|dters. florists,
event planners, entertainers, fVinn.il v\« ar, cake bakers «uvd * wlniin.ititi«* in a bridal fashion slum.
Sunday, January Hth, 2007 | 2-S
I it kel s \7 in advant e anti n 10 ilav t»l event.
I i>r mure inlurtn.itiun nr lit kets please t onlat I
WE WANT YOU
(Haggle City Rollergirls
Boot Camp
Jan. 14, 16, ZL, 23, 2006, 7 to 9 PH
Skate Around USA, 3030 Cherokee Road
contact: rocrultaant at nl jurtnrt tyrol 1 ftrgl rl tvxm
t
NEWS & FEATURES I CALENDAR I MOVIES I A&E I MUSIC I COMICS & ADVICE I CLASSIFIEDS
JANUARY 9,2008 • FLAGP0LE.COM 7