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CA court issues landmark decision

On September 7, 1979, the California Court issued a ruling of national importance in a sexual solicitation case. The case centered around the constitutionality of the criminal statue which prohibits soliciting or engaging in "lewd or dissolute" conduct.

The Court reviewed and analyzed over 70 years of statutory interpretation and, responding to the question of what conduct past appellate decisions have made illegal, the Court said, "The answer of the prior cases--such acts as are lustful, lascivious, unchaste, wanton, or loose in morals and conduct--is no answer at all." The Court then totally overruled all of those cases, concluding that the statute "as construed by prior California decisions does not meet constitutional standards of specificity."

The effects of this decision will be far-reaching, since most other states have similar statutes, and many states look to the California Court for leadership in judicial matters.

The case, Don Barry Pryor -vLos Angeles Municipal Court (Supreme Court # LA 30901), involved a San Francisco resident who, on a visit to Los Angeles, solicited another person for a sexual act which Mr. Pryor claimed was to be performed in private. The solicited person turned out to be a plainclothes officer, and Mr. Pryor was arrested.

In a surprise move, rather than striking the statute down in its entirety and deferring to the legislature to redefine the crime, the Court adopted the approach suggested by the Los Angeles City Attorney's office and reconstructed the statute itself to meet constitutional tests, creating a totally new and unique interpretation and definition.

Agreeing with the "Friend of the Court" brief submitted by the National Committee for Sexual Civil Liberties, the Court held, "a constitutionally specific definition must be limited to conduct of a type likely to offend... even if conduct occurs in a location that is technically a public place... the state has little interest in prohibiting that conduct if there are no persons present who may be offended."

According to Dr. Arthur C. Warner of Princeton, New Jersey, co-chairman of the National Committee for Sexual Civil Liberties, 'The decision could spell an end to the snooping and spying by plainclothes police on what amounts to adult sexual or affectional behavior. It affects the case in which a couple is caught engaging in intimate contact in a car in lovers' lane when the only person who observes the conduct is a police officer with a flashlight. It also could affect the type of sexual harassment exercised by police for years as a method of building for their departments good arrest statistics, to the detriment of real crime fighting in cases of robbery, rape, assault, and other cases important to public safety and welfare."

The National Committee is a private group of lawyers and other professionals working for the dismantling of existing criminal structures which penalize sex between consenting adults in situations where members of the public are not affected.

According to Mr. Coleman, "The decision of the California Supreme Court has given stern notice to prosecutors and police that they must put an end to systematic arrests of people who are doing nothing more than engaging in some form of harmless sexual conduct. It also constitutes a warning to lower courts in California that constitutional protections cannot be denied homosexual, nor their rights disrespected." Finally, in an exceptionally

Thomas F. Coleman, Holly California politics

wood-based attorney for Mr. Pryor, and publisher and managing editor of the Sexual Law Reporter, a national legal periodical, remarked, "To our knowledge, this is the first time an appellate court in the United States has apparently held that a sex statute which does not include the requirement of an offended viewer, may be unconstitutional."

The Court achieved another first in California by holding that public solicitations for lawful sex to be performed in private cannot constitutionally be made criminal by the state.

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unusual move,the Court gave retroactive effect to its new definitions. This means that tens of thousands of men previously prosecuted under the statute may be entitled to an overturning of their convictions for solicitation or lewd conduct, thereby eliminating the requirement to register as sex offenders for the rest of their lives.

The scholarly and meticulous opinion of the Court, fifteen months in preparation, and some thirty pages in length, was authored by Justice Matthew O. Tobriner, senior member of the Court. Chief Justice Bird and Associate Justices Mosk and Newman concurred in the opinion. The only dissent came from Associate Justice Clark.

Brown appoints gay man judge

On Monday, September 19, that Lachs had received a very Governor Brown of California high rating from a review comappointed to a seat on the Super-mittee of the State Bar of Califorfor Court in Los Angeles, Stenia and that serving as a juvenile phen M. Lachs, 39, who is openly court commissioner he had been gay. serving "many of the functions of a Superior Court judge."

Lachs is apparently the first openly gay individual to be appointed judge in California, perhaps in the United States.

Lachs, who is active in the L.A. gay community, sitting on the board of directors of the Los Angeles Gay Community Services Center, was a Superior Court commissioner until his appointment as judge.

Governor Brown's one page statement announcing the appointment does not say directly that Lachs is gay but does mention his involvement with a gay organization.

On page one of the September 18 issue of the San Francisco Chronicle reporter John Balzar quotes Governor Brown's office as saying that Lachs' homosexuality was "not a factor in his appointment. He was chosen because of his experience and record as a court commissioner and lawyer."

J. Anthony Kline, Brown's legal affairs advisor, pointed out

Balzar, in his story, says that "insiders in the gay community" are saying that Brown is eager to tap the resources of the gay community in his campaign for president.

"It has been only recently" says Balzar, "that gays in Los Angeles have emerged as a potent political force, particularly in raising substantial amounts of campaign donations."

Brown's support of gay rights has become more active this year. He has issued, for example, an executive order outlawing discrimination or "harassment" in state employment based on sexual preference.

Balzar says that having someone gay appointed judge is "something that gays have sought for some time."

A graduate of UCLA, Stephen M. Lachs has been a public defender, a lawyer for the state Insurance Department, and a pri-

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vate attorney. He has been active with the Juvenile Justice Committee and has been active as a volunteer for the American Civil Liberties Union. Lesbians confront Cincinnati police

Cincinnati's Lesbian Activist Bureau will picket part of the recruitment examination process of the Cincinnati police division, charging discrimination against gays.

LAB, insisting gays are a minority group, will picket the oral exams given by police recruiters October 8 at Convention Center.

This year's recruitment drive is geared to increasing the number of minority and women police officers in the division. LAB members charge police recruitment officers have publicly stated that gays will be denied employment as police officers.

Recruitment Officer James Hicks said, however, he doubted seriously whether any of the seven police recruiters have made such a statement.

Hicks said the lesbians were within their rights to picket. He said he doubted their action would be effective.

Hicks said of 700 applicants thus far, 33% are women and 49% are minorities.

--from Cincinnati Post, 9/6/79

Tsongas letter (cont'd from page three) support will be limited. The Constituent Lobbying Day, the day after the March, is an excellent opportunity to meet directly with their Senators and Congresspeople to explain their views." For those persons that will not be attending the March or cannot stay for the Constituent Lobbying Day, the Lobby strongly urges supporters of lesbian/gay civil rights to write to their Senators at Senate Office Building. Washington, D.C. 20510. Those that are unsure of who their Senators are may contact the Gay Rights National Lobby at 1606 17th St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20009 or by calling (202) 462-4255.