Senator Craig’s Arrest was Unconstitutional

When Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) was busted in a men’s room at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport for disorderly conduct, the panic among Republicans was surpassed only by the schadenfreude of Democrats. A homophobic social reactionary was outed as a casual cruiser of other men. Senator Craig said at first he’d resign, then it seems he has changed his mind, thinking he can keep his seat if he can get his guilty plea tossed out. He should still resign because as a political force he has become a joke, but he should fight tooth and nail to get the plea overturned. After all, his arrest was unconstitutional, and this journal believes that matters more than anything else in this sorry case.

That Mr. Craig is a foul hypocrite, a man whose career rests in part on stirring up hatred against homosexuals, is beyond dispute. Then again, hypocrisy is the single greatest feature of civilization; it allows those who hate one another to work together for the common good without resort to murder. The supposition that he is a closet homosexual himself is a matter of psychological debate, and more that that, it is none of anyone’s business save the Senator, his wife and any partners he may have had outside of marriage.

What does matter is the circumstance of his arrest. As a Senator from Idaho, he was traveling through Minnesota as part of his duty as a legislator. The American constitution is quite clear on this matter. Article 1, Section 6 says quite clearly that Senators and Congresspeople “shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same. . . .” His arrest for a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct. That certainly isn’t treason, can’t be a felony, and hardly counts as breach of the peace as it was understood by the founding fathers, for whom it meant violent behavior that could result in civil disorder.

Since tomorrow is the sixth anniversary of the Al Qaeda murders in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania, it is opportune to wonder just why casual sex in the gents at the airport is so important to the officials in Minnesota. Surely the only business they have there is ensuring that no one is assembling a Kalashnikov in the stalls. Clearly, though, the top cops there don’t understand their jobs, and the guys in the field (or toilets) need a refresher course in Constitutional law. Mr. Craig was immune from arrest at the time he was caught importuning. Once he identified himself, he should have been freed

This journal holds no brief for the senator. Frankly, he’s the kind of person who makes the country less than what it could be, a rancher who should have stayed on the family farm (a far more noble calling than politician anyway). However, the constitution must apply in whole to everyone, or it is meaningless. Thus, his arrest was unconstitutional and his guilty plea moot. That he has rendered himself politically impotent is beside the point; he shouldn’t have been arrested in the first place.

© Copyright 2007 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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