Craig's foot taps are 'constitutionally protected,' ACLU says
 One of the nation's oldest advocates of civil rights has come to the defense of alleged bathroom-sex-soliciting Sen. Larry Craig, saying his foot tapping and hand waving in an airport restroom do not provide enough evidence that he was going to engage in sexual activity in public.
The American Civil Liberties Union criticized the Minneapolis airport police sting aimed at preventing public sex in its restrooms. The ACLU filed a "friend of the court" brief Monday arguing that Craig should be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea to a disorderly conduct charge and fight the case because police failed to prove he attempted to engage in sexual activity in public.
"Solicitation for private sex, regardless if it occurs in a bar or a restroom, is protected speech under the First Amendment," said a news release from the ACLU. "When free speech rights come into play, police enforcement actions must be 'carefully crafted' so that they don’t unnecessarily ensnare people who are engaging in constitutionally protected speech."
Instead of having an undercover cop sit in a bathroom stall waiting to be solicited, the ACLU says police should have had a uniformed officer patrol the restroom and posted a sign in warning visitors that it was being monitored.
Although Craig has "not always been a great friend of civil liberties," he deserves the same constitutional protections as every other citizen, ACLU executive director Anthony Romero said.
"Government should make public restrooms safe for all, but it should do so in a manner that is really designed to stop inappropriate behavior, rather than destroying the lives of people who might have no intention of doing anything illegal," Romero said in the news release.
The ACLU pointed to a Justice Department guide on policing public places to prevent sexual activity that recommended posted signs and uniformed officers as opposed to undercover stings.
Craig was arrested in June after an undercover officer said the Idaho Republican peered through a crack in his stall door for two minutes before performing several actions, such as tapping his foot and reaching under the door between the two stalls, that are understood to be an invitation to engage in sexual activity.
Craig pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of disorderly conduct, but he has sought to withdraw that plea, which would open him to harsher charges of invading the officer's privacy by peering into the stall.
"The real motive behind secret sting operations like the one that resulted in Senator Craig’s arrest is not to stop people from inappropriate activity," Romero said. "It is to make as many arrests as possible – arrests that sometimes unconstitutionally trap innocent people."
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