As a criminal defense attorney, I regularly encounter women, mostly, and sometimes men that have been arrested in a police “sting operation” that focused on targeting prostitutes and/or johns. In case someone reading this article does not know, a prostitute is one who exchanges sexual favors for some form of compensation, usually money. Johns are those who pay for the sexual favor-usually men, but as you can imagine, the roles could reverse. I believe that conducting these police sting operations reduces the quality of life in our society and that the only persons “harmed” by prostitution are potentially the actors. Not to mention, it is a waste of police time and resources to prosecute these “victimless” crimes.
Legalization improves neighborhoods and promotes safety
Consider this: if places where prostitution would naturally occur are forced out of business, like brothels, some motels, or apartments, police action drives the activity into the streets of neighborhoods where it otherwise may not exist. Thus, residents of the neighborhoods are exposed to the activity against their will.
Also because of prostitution being forced into the streets, the dangers to many prostitutes greatly increase. Prostitutes whose jobs involve working at night and getting into cars with strangers can be, and often have been, easy pickings for serial killers and other sociopaths. Some criminal justice studies have shown that prostitutes are the most frequent targets for serial killers.
A sensible solution to these problems would be to follow the example of some European cities, where prostitution is allowed in certain designated areas. People who are interested in the activity go to places where it’s permitted, and they leave alone the neighborhoods that don’t wish to be associated with it. Not only are the prostitutes working in a safer environment, but the residents of neighborhoods are not bothered with the traffic, cat-calls, or other related behaviors that they may find reprehensible.
Legalization reduces crime
Another problem with prostitution arrests is that they cause long-term increases in crime and drug abuse in society. Margo St. James, a former social worker and a leading advocate of legalizing prostitution, believes that when a woman is convicted of prostitution that it acts much like a brand or negative stigma, like the “A” in The Scarlet Letter. This could make it much harder for the female to find gainful employment, which then begins a cycle of arrests for more prostitution or other criminal offenses.
Keeping prostitution illegal also contributes to crime because many criminals view prostitutes and their customers as attractive targets for robbery, fraud, rape, or other criminal acts. The criminals realize that such people are unlikely to report the crimes to police, because the victims would have to admit they were involved in the illegal activity of prostitution when the attacks took place. Also, there is a belief that prostitutes may have large sums of cash on them, which makes them an attractive target for other criminals.
If prostitution were legal, these victims would be less reluctant to report to police any criminal acts that occurred while they were involved in it. This would significantly improve the probability of catching the criminals and preventing them from victimizing others. In many cases, it could deter them from committing the crimes in the first place. That view is consistent with the experience of the European countries where prostitution is legal. They have far lower crime rates than the U.S. overall.
Studies have been conducted in the Nevada counties where prostitution is legal and the results were similar: those counties that provide legalized methods for prostitution to exist are quite peaceable and have lower crime rates. Interestingly, in November, 2004, in Churchill County, Nevada, a ballot proposal to outlaw prostitution was rejected by a 2-to-1 margin, even though the county is primarily Republican and supported George W. Bush for president.
Legalization promotes liberty and privacy
Laws against prostitution violate Americans’ fundamental rights of individual liberty and personal privacy. Thomas Jefferson and other founders of the U.S. envisioned a society where people can live without interference from government, provided they don’t harm others. Lest we all forget, when the founders of the United States fled Europe, they were fleeing the very intrusions and governmental oversight that has developed in this country over the past thirty to fifty years, but especially in the the post 9/11 era under the watch of the Homeland Security Act.
As Jefferson said in his First Inaugural Address: “A wise and frugal Government,which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement.” Or as Arthur Hoppe wrote about consensual acts in the San Francisco Chronicle in 1992: “The function of government is to protect me from others. It’s up to me, thank you, to protect me from me.” Combined, these two statements demonstrate the very principle that I described above-that government should protect its citizens and not try to dictate their very lives.
Similar to issues such as birth control, abortion, and the right to death with dignity, this issue involves people’s fundamental rights to control their own bodies and decide the best way to conduct their lives.
In a free society, it makes no sense for the government to be telling persons - particularly the poor - they cannot charge a fee for harmless services they otherwise are at liberty to give away. To paraphrase George Carlin: Selling is legal, and sex is legal, so why isn’t selling sex legal? The simple answer is that some people are offended by this act and want to impose their “moral authority” on others.
Sex isn’t just for the handsome: some side benefits of legalization
Likewise for the customers, there’s no reason their freedom should not include the right to purchase the companionship and affection they may want but do not find in other aspects of their lives.
For example, one disabled man told researchers he was lonely and visited prostitutes because “I’m ugly, no women will go out with me. . . . It’s because of my disability. So prostitutes are a sexual outlet for me.” Another man reported that he did the same for a number of years due to being “anorexic and very reclusive. There was no chance of forming a relationship.” A physically unattractive man added, “I pay for sex because that is the only way I can get sex.” Another person said his experiences with prostitutes and other sex workers helped him overcome an extreme aversion to physical intimacy, which had resulted from years of physical and emotional abuse while growing up. He explained: “I very likely would have died a virgin if I hadn’t somehow gotten comfortable with physical intimacy, and sex workers enabled me to do that. At least for me, it’s been a healing experience.”
Consider this: in some ways alleviating the sexual need that we all have could be a form of therapy with a paid professional. It’s perfectly legal to meet with a psychologist to discuss sexual concerns, but it is not legal, in most places, to meet with a prostitute to work out that tension on your own… if you pay for it. Through prostitution, someone may be able to meet a need that would otherwise be unfulfilled, which could result in more violent criminal behavior, like sexual assault (aka “rape). In other words, I believe that the sexual drive becomes so strong at times, that some people are unable to control it and will obtain that release they desire, even against the will of the other participant. This behavior should not be condoned and must remain illegal, but consensual sex between adults, even for money, hurts no one but the “moral police”.
What about Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs)?
Many who oppose the legalization of prostitution argue that STDs would spread and that some unsuspecting person may contract a STD if prostitution were legal. However, it is my contention that just like alcohol sales, which are regulated as to time, place, and quantity in some instances, that if prostitution were legalized, and monitored by the government, much like in some European cities, the government could require registration and testing for the prostitutes. Granted, this would be more governmental oversight, and while I am not a fan of “Big Brother”, I think this would be far less intrusive and more logical than the current system in place with criminalizing two already legal behaviors: sex and sales.
Consider this: the government could collect a registration fee from anyone seeking a license for prostitution, it could require testing every six months or whatever period of time was prescribed, and it could contain the behavior to registered facilities. All in all, it appears that the government would benefit by having an increase in its revenue stream, and the public would benefit because they who choose to participate in sexual encounters with prostitutes would be better protected by the registration and testing. Communities would benefit by the containment to a given area. And under this system, criminalization would occur for those not following the system put in place.
Legalization puts law-enforcement resources to better uses
Numerous legal commentators point out that using law enforcement resources against prostitution substantially diminishes the resources available to fight other crimes committed against persons or property. This nation desperately needs more efforts applied to solving those crimes, because arrests are being made in connection with only about 20% of them. And, if you look around to your local law enforcement agencies across the United States, most of them are desperate to find new recruits to fill in the already thinned lines of officers. By removing officers assigned to “sting operations” and special divisions like “Street Response Teams” more officers could be available to answer calls or follow-up on more serious reports currently on file.
While I do not have statistics to support this, though I am confident they exist, I believe that the damage inflicted on society by corporate crime and white-collar crime far exceeds the harm caused by all the street crime combined. Just ask the victims of the Enron and WorldCom scandals - many of whom lost their life savings….
As for white-collar crime, the police undoubtedly know that their jobs and careers are safer by making prostitution arrests than by investigating criminals who cause serious harm but either wield political power or have strong connections to those who do. And when the corruption involves others in the police force, the notorious “Blue Wall of Silence” leads all too many officers to ignore and protect the wrong-doing of badge-wearing criminals too.
Conclusion
Our society would be better served if the police directed their efforts away from the activities of consenting adults and toward preventing and solving real crimes involving clear victims and injustices.
Dax Garvin, Attorney and Counselor At law is an experienced Austin DWI Attorney.
I graduated from Texas Tech University School of Law in May, 2002, and was licensed to practice law in Texas that November, following the July, 2002, Texas Bar Exam. Prior to that, I obtained my Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from the University of Texas at Tyler and my first years of undergraduate work were spent at Austin College in Sherman, Texas, where I learned the true passion of humanity-recognizing we are all part of one great society.
I worked in the Travis County Attorney’s Office from August, 2002, until October, 2003, when I entered into private practice with a mid-size Austin civil litigation firm, where I enhanced my skills for legal research, writing, motion practice, and working with insurance companies from the defense perspective.
http://www.daxlegal.com
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