tangents

news & views

by del mcintire

In a remarkably emphatic and carefully worded opinion, the supreme Court of the State of California has handed down a decision which should effectively put a stop to the practice by police of obtaining evidence in public restrooms (most usually against homosexuals) by means of illegal search and seizure. The case arose out of the arrest of 3 men in a public restroom. in Long Beach who were accused of homosexual acts in public. They were, we now know, fortunately represented throughout the ensuing legal battles by an especially alert and tireless Los Angeles attorney, Frank G. Wood, Jr.

PIPELINE TO?

We had first heard about the place years ago. There was no question about it, the restroom on the Long Beach Pike was hot. People who went there took their chances and, as we had learned from the number of persons who

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came to us for legal referrals, frequently lost. Just how the vicecops operated we didn't know. They did not keep the place under surveillance at all times. There would be intervals of rest, but for the last 6 or 8 months Long Beach's vice squad had been keeping a close watch on the premises, so successfully in fact, that over this and earlier periods, they were able to obtain at least 1,000 convictions growing out of one homosexual charge or another.

The men arrested in this instance were charged with violating section 286 of the Calif. Penal Code (infamous crime against nature). The sole witness presented against them at the preliminary examination was Officer Hetzel of the Long Beach vice squad. Under skillful probing by Mr. Wood, vice-cop Hetzel testified how the police obtained their evidence: The Pike Corporation, owner of the amusement park, had authorized the po-

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