Will Grigg's Liberty Minute

September 4, 2007

As Sigmund Freud famously said, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. And sometimes foot-tapping in a public restroom stall is simply a nervous tic, rather than a secret signal conveying a desire to commit perverted acts.
Senator Larry Craig chose not to fight his arrest in Minneapolis on charges arising from an encounter with an undercover cop in an airport restroom. After pleading guilty, Craig announced his resignation. Despite his decision to resign, Craig should have contested the charge, which was supported only by the uncorroborated testimony of the arresting officer, and his assumptions about acts Craig had not yet committed.

A common law principle at least as old as the Magna Carta holds that agents of the state should not be able to convict citizens of crimes on the basis of their uncorroborated testimony. And we shouldn't assume that policemen are telepaths able to discern the unspoken thoughts, and unperformed deeds, of suspects.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.