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ACLU Files Amicus Brief in Support of Larry Craig | 21 comments (21 topical)

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good luck (none / 0) (#3)
by eric on Mon Sep 17, 2007 at 11:58:13 AM EST
Sounds pretty irrelevent to the issue at hand - whether Craig should be able to withdraw his plea.

I would add that if Minnesota's disorderly conduct statute is unconstitutional, then there are hundreds of thousands of people in Minnesota that are going to be really happy.

not if you read the brief all the way through (none / 0) (#5)
by scribe on Mon Sep 17, 2007 at 12:10:40 PM EST
at the end, it makes the point that
constitutionally, he could not have been convicted, so the interests of justice require allowing his guilty plea to be withdrawn (can't plead guilty to conduct which is not a crime....) .

[ Parent ]
unconstitutional as applied (none / 0) (#21)
by txpublicdefender on Tue Sep 18, 2007 at 01:19:54 PM EST
They're not arguing that the entire statute is unconstitutional.  They're arguing that a constitutional interpretation of the statute cannot include his conduct, even taking the allegations of the prosecutor as true.  

I still think the procedural posture is a problem.  You can choose to waive constitutional objections to the charge by plea bargain.  It happens every time someone agrees to drop an illegal search issue in exchange for a plea to a lesser charge.  

But, I wholly agree with the ACLU's analysis of the legal issue.  Soliciting someone in a public place to have sex cannot be a crime unless you are specifically soliciting to have the sex in public.  I never understood what it was that Craig did that was a crime.  Unfortunately, he pled guilty.

[ Parent ]

ACLU Files Amicus Brief in Support of Larry Craig | 21 comments (21 topical)

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