The Advocate, a newspaper in Baton Rouge, La., reports law enforcement officials in the city are attempting to trick gay men into agreeing to have sex with them so they can book them into prison on counts of attempted crime against nature.
The only problem is, you can't do that. The Supreme Court struck down sodomy laws in 2003.
Public sex acts and the solicitation of “unnatural carnal copulation” for money is illegal, but none of the men in any of the cases did either of those things.
According to The Advocate, this has occurred at least a dozen times since 2011. A recent incident occurred at Manchac Park in Baton Rouge.
The officer solicited a man for sex, invited him to his home, and then arrested him.
District Attorney Hillar Moore III said his office has not prosecuted any of the cases since no crime was actually committed.
This is a law that is currently on the Louisiana books, and the sheriff is charged with enforcing the laws passed by our Louisiana Legislature. Whether the law is valid is something for the courts to determine, but the sheriff will enforce the laws that are enacted.
It is frustrating that the police are using their resources to pursue issues like this and arrest people for attempting to pick someone up and go home with them. It's perfectly legal, and we would have to close down every bar in Baton Rouge if that weren't the case.