El Paso police officer threatens 2 men for kissing, citing law UC Supr Ct ruled unconstitutional.

[lindisfarne]

http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_12790543
Two gay men kissed at a Chico's Tacos restaurant, prompting guards to eject them and a police officer to endorse their ouster.

Civil-rights lawyers say the security staff was out of line. Police, though, contend that a business such as a restaurant can refuse service to anybody, any time.
...
The five men, all gay, were placing their order at the Chico's Tacos restaurant on Montwood when the men kissed. All five sat down, but the two guards at the restaurant told them to leave.

De Leon quoted one of the guards as saying he didn't allow "that faggot stuff" in the restaurant.
...
De Leon said the officer told the group it was illegal for two men or two women to kiss in public. The five men, he said, were told they could be cited for homosexual conduct -- a law the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional in 2003 in Lawrence v. Texas.

That same year, the El Paso City Council approved an ordinance banning discrimination based on sexual orientation by businesses open to the public.
....
An assistant manager at Chico's Tacos declined to comment Wednesday, except to say the owners of the restaurant were out of town and could not be reached. An official with All American International Security, the firm contracted by Chico's Tacos to supply guards, said one member of the security crew was contacting a lawyer. He would say no more.

El Paso police Detective Carlos Carrillo said a more appropriate charge for what happened at Chico's Tacos would probably be criminal trespass.

"The security guard received a complaint from some of the customers there," Carrillo said. "Every business has the right to refuse service. They have the right to refuse service to whoever they don't want there. That's their prerogative."
...

[zonkers]

1. Is this what cops in El Paso waste their time doing. Shit.

[noamnety]

2. El Paso police declined further comment

because they were rushing out to Philadelphia to keep some children from entering a swimming pool.

[saltpoint]

3. How fortunate that the City of El Paso has accomplished a flawless

society thus freeing their law enforcement officials to crack down on kissing in taco restaurants.

[cboy4]

4. So going into a restaurant with the intent to order food is "probably

criminal trespass."

This is why cops are not lawyers and why so many arrests are thrown in the garbage at the DA's office.

And the owners were out of town? Yea that's bullshit. They're always out of town when the reporters come a knocking.

[paulsby]

6. he probably meant that refusing

to leave, if that happened was criminal trespass.

regardless, cops are supposed to know what the constitutional law is. god knows i do. i used to work in Massachusetts as a cop. we had a law still on the books that criminalized "blaspheming the name of god". needless to say that's unconstitutional.

if the cop said that kissing in public is illegal, he's an idiot.

the restaurant would ONLY be justified in ejecting the customers for kissing, if it does that for ALL customers (iow heterosexuals too), which would be EASY to disprove. simply ask them to cite the last time they called the cops cause two homesexuals were kissing...

(crickets)...

i was in el paso not too long ago, btw. not sure how that is relevant...

[tbyg52]

15. Your Freudian slip is showing....! ;->

>>simply ask them to cite the last time they called the cops cause two *homesexuals*

(Not that I don't approve of it..... :applause: )

[Arctic Dave]

5. This story is fucked up from the word go.

First of all, why the hell does a restuarant need a guard?

[charlie]

16. Because what they sell is stupid cheap

Under a buck seventy per serving. That alone keeps it unbelievably jammed. But, on top of that, Chico's is the town's number one choice as final stop after a night of drinking. The later it is, the more the clientele is hammered. Without a cop around, things could get out of control. And probably more importantly to the owners, without a cop in sight, they'd lose much of the family business.

[Eric J in MN]

7. According to the ACLU of Texas, it's legal for a restaurant to expel customers...

...for a gay kiss, as long as that restaurnat also expels customers for a straight kiss:

=====================
Lisa Graybill, legal director for the ACLU of Texas, said that businesses can ask patrons to leave for lewd conduct, but that those standards would have to apply to all customers.

"If a straight couple wouldn't have gotten kicked out for it," she said, "a gay couple shouldn't."
=====================

[lindisfarne]

8. Read again. Graybill says "for lewd conduct". She does not equate a kiss with lewd conduct. And she

explicitly states you can't discriminate: who is carrying out the "conduct" does not change whether it's lewd or not.

[charlie]

17. Chico's is real popular with teens

Which means couples and kissing. They'd have to be tongue wrestling before anyone would notice.

The police chief got himself a nice little chewing out by a couple of city council members. He's making the right noises about respect and courtesy, and eyes will be on him for a while to actually do something about the knuckleheads on his force.

[xchrom]

9. a tip for bank robbers -- in el paso hold a gay kiss-in and

apparently you can rob every bank in town.

[TheWraith]

10. I hope that guy likes working as a Rent-a-cop for the rest of his life.

Because once the lawsuit is over, he's going to be working security at Chuck-e-Cheese.

[lindisfarne]

11. See also LGBT activism thread. One person wrote & was told the officer in question was

getting additional training.
However, the response does not address the fact that the entire police force needs training, based on some of their statements that were quoted in article linked to in OP. It wasn't just a single "inexperienced" officer who misunderstood the law.

for example:
El Paso police Detective Carlos Carrillo said a more appropriate charge for what happened at Chico's Tacos would probably be criminal trespass. "The security guard received a complaint from some of the customers there," Carrillo said. "Every business has the right to refuse service. They have the right to refuse service to whoever they don't want there. That's their prerogative."
=========
Exactly how can going into a fast food restaurant and ordering what's on their menu be a case of "criminal trespass"?

[DeSwiss]

12. I Corinthians 16:20

"All the brethren greet you. Greet ye one another with an holy kiss."



- "So it would seem, that man-kissing is Jeebus-Approved...."



K&R

[ronnykmarshall]

13. I wrote a few on line reviews of Chico's .....

I loves me good ol' cheap mexican food. So when I was on a road trip to Austin I stopped by Chico's for quick bite.

Well, the place was filthy. The staff was rude and bascially threw the food at you. The tacos were pretty greasy but what do you expect. I mananged to finish them off and got back into my car and drove off.

I was just outside of town when I thought I was going to die. I pulled into a gas station and ran to the rest room where I spent the next hour throwing up and crapping. Luckily the attendent of the gas station heard my cries for help and called 911.

When the paramedics arrived and put me on the strecher one of them noticed the Chico's soda cup I was drinking water from. He yelled to his partner "HEY LANORE, we got another Chico's victim". They rushed me to the nearest hospital where I ended up staying for 5 days. I was so weak when I was released from the hospital, my cousin from Austin had to fly to El Paso and drive me back to Los Angeles

[YoungAndOutraged]

14. Raises my blood pressure just thinking about it

If anything like this ever happens to me, someone's going to have to get body guards if they care for their safety. I don't like violence and try my best not to get violent, but a person can only take so much before they crack.

[ivanincali]

18. This is the stupidest thing I have ever read!

They must have too much time on they're hands in El Paso!