The Stall Next to Yours
The lines between public and private are further blurred.
|
In an effort to help Sen. Larry Craig, the American Civil Liberties Union is arguing that people who have sex in public bathrooms have an expectation of privacy. Craig, of Idaho, is asking the Minnesota Court of Appeals to let him withdraw his guilty plea to disorderly conduct stemming from a bathroom sex sting at the Minneapolis airport. The ACLU filed a brief Tuesday 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." |
I'm not interested in how this relates to Larry Craig as much as I am curious as to the definition of "privacy" in a public area. If I am using a stall, I expect that I will have some degree of privacy for the intended use of the stall. But to say that someone has the right to have sex in a stall and the law should protect their privacy is a stretch.
How about other people's privacy? Their right to use the bathroom without someone having sex in the next stall. We're not talking about hotel rooms. So can a prostitute turn a trick in a stall and a warrant is needed to enter? Where is the common sense?
Via Drudge