With liberty, justice and toilets for all

WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- Potty parity is still pending for female politicos at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, says a law professor pushing for porcelain proportionality.

John Banzhaf, a public interest law professor at George Washington University Law School, said in a news release Monday that while there are slightly fewer toilets and urinals for men than for women -- the Pepsi Center has 45 toilets and 129 urinals for men and 198 toilets for women -- female delegates will still probably have to stand in line longer because it takes them at least twice as long per visit.

The problem will probably be less pronounced at Invesco Field, where Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., will accept the party's presidential nomination, Banzhaf suggests, because there won't be the same need for many people to use restrooms simultaneously.

Banzhaf notes the situation is worse for female members of the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington. Congresswomen on the House floor must walk down a long hallway, through former Rep. Richard Gephardt's offices, hang a left, then a right into a small, windowless bathroom with three stalls. Congressmen need amble just a few feet off the House floor to take advantage of six stalls and four urinals.

Banzhaf has filed a formal complaint, arguing "the House appeared to be in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and of the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution."

He notes the Senate and the U.S. Supreme Court resolved this dilemma years ago.