Queer Justice League

Sex stings recall Port Authority lawsuit
METRO NEW YORK - 02/04/2009

New York. Civil rights attorney Michael Spiegel heard a familiar ring in recent allegations that the NYPD has been worngly charging gay men of prostitution in Manhattan porn shops. City Speaker Christine Quinn told Metro on Monday, "These are false arrests."

In 2006, a federal court found Port Authority police were arresting men they believed to be gay, though they didn't see the men break the law. The agency paid nearly $800,000 to Spiegel and his client, a gay New jersey man arrested for public lewdness without probable cause in a bathroom at the World Trade Center station. That was reduced from an earlier award of $1.1 million.

As for the porn shop arrests, "whatever the police think they are doing, they're victimizing people based on their perception of sexual orientation," said Spiegel, who has so far spoken to three men claiming false arrest.



Fits the crime?

After his arrest for prostitution, a "shocked" Robert Pinter, 53, pleaded guilty to "disorderly conduct" and was ordered to take classes. "The first was on how to be a safer sex worker," he said.