Flutterby™! : Louisiana rejecting basic civil liberties and the Supreme Court.

The longer I live in the Bay Area, the more I feel reluctant to travel outside of it to places without the basic protections of law or civil liberties. Today's example: Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where sheriff's deputies are cruising and then arresting men who agree to consensual sex in private residences without the exchange of money.

Tommy Damico, a defense lawyer who represents the man arrested this month, said he had been prepared to challenge the attempted crime against nature charge under the 2003 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Lawrence v. Texas, which legalized same-sex sexual activity. Moore, however, said he has already decided formal charges will not be brought in the case.

“For the Sheriff’s Office to be setting these kinds of sting operations up is a waste of time because they can’t prosecute these things,” Damico said. “I think the statute itself has incredible problems.”