Does Craig have immunity from prosecution?

Posted at 4:57 PM on September 5, 2007 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)

I was watching CNN this morning which had the usual debating-heads babble -- this time it was over the question of whether Sen. Larry Craig should resign. One of the combatants said, basically, that Craig should resign because he was too stupid to know that members of Congress are immune from charges during, and immediately before and after participating in a congressional session.

A blogger -- it's always the bloggers ain't it? -- says that's simply not true

So what Larry Craig was claiming when he showed the arresting officer his business card was not “Senatorial immunity” which has some limited actual existence under the Constitution, but corrupt special privilege, which unfortunately is fairly common–see Beltway-itis: When Politicians Attack, by Michelle Malkin, just the other day.

Comments (1)

I saw some discussion of this angle when the incident first became known. As I understand it, Legislators are immune from arrest while enroute to a Congressional vote (which Craig was). However, there is an exception for 'disturbing the peace.' So the question becomes, is peeping into a bathroom stall 'disturbing the peace'? I suspect it might be.

Though I admit, it would be entertaining to see someone try to argue this theory in court.

Posted by bsimon | September 6, 2007 12:52 PM

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