Sen. Larry Craig has filed his appeal in his Minnesota sex-solicitation case, and here’s what it says: Not much. Really. There’s just notice that he’s filing an appeal, and that the required $500 fee is being submitted. That’s it. The way the Minnesota Court of Appeals process works, now that Craig’s filed this notice, a transcript of the district court hearing in his case will be delivered to the Court of Appeals, which likely will take up to a week. Then, Craig will have 60 days to file a brief laying out his case.

At that point, the prosecutors, who are the respondents in the case, have another 45 days to file their brief in response. And then the case gets set for oral arguments – something Craig’s attorneys requested. Kyle Christopherson, communications specialist for the court, said, “The court would set the case for oral arguments, which would be approximately six to eight months after the filing of the respondents’ brief, just given the scheduling. And then, once oral arguments are heard, after that, the Court of Appeal is set by statute – they have 90 days to file a decision.”

Add all that up, and it shows that resolution of this appeal – which legal experts say has very little chance of succeeding – could be as far out as January of 2009. Interestingly, that’s just after Craig would leave office if he follows his current plan to serve out his term and then retire. It also means that the nation will continue to hear about airport restroom sex, an undercover sting operation, the “wide stance,” a senator’s “fear” and “panic” over a newspaper investigation, tapping toes and more for the next 15 months.

---

---