The Crime Report has an interesting story about New York’s law against “loitering for the purpose of engaging in a prostitution offense”.
And that was pretty much it. The officer didn’t hear her say anything; nor did he ask any of the men he saw her talking to what she had said. That didn’t faze the assistant district attorney, who attempted to get condoms found in the defendant’s purse admitted as evidence.
Of course, prostitution has migrated from the street to the internet:
Before the Internet, vice cops had it relatively easy. Most cities had specific areas known for street prostitution where undercover officers posing as johns could chat up a lady, strike a deal to pay for a sex act, and then pull out the cuffs. But in the last decade, the oldest profession has “gone high-tech,” says Jaime Ayala, Deputy Chief of Police in Arlington, Texas.
Gee, one would think that getting it off the street would be a good thing…
And then there’s the obligatory reference to Craig’s List. Of course, no one really knows how many women and children are actually victimized by Craig’s List, but you can be certain it’s “a lot”.
Anyone who has perused the adult sections of Craigslist or Backpage knows that men and women (and boys and girls) advertise their sexual services online. What this means for police is a lot more legwork. At the same time, a rise in awareness about the ugly world of human trafficking, where women from abroad—and, in some cases, American children—are held hostage in brothels disguised as massage parlors, has shifted law enforcement focus and resources away from traditional vice work, according to many attorneys.
These days, most vice work is simply tricking someone into committing a “crime”. Pardon my skepticism that the internet makes it more difficult for cops to arrest prostitutes. If anything, it makes it easy to set up a sting without even having to leave the office until you’re ready to spring the trap.
The Prostitution Free Zone is a novel idea that codifies the crime of “being in the wrong place at the wrong time” by permitting cops to arrest anyone with a prior record of prostitution who happen to be in the PFZ.
Washington, D.C. also created PFZs in 2006. But, according to Professor John Copacino of the Georgetown University Criminal Justice Clinic, the district “gets around the constitutionality” by making the zones temporary: they can be in effect for just 10 days at a time. Portions of the district’s downtown area were declared PFZs during the inauguration of Barack Obama in January 2009.
I guess it’s ok to suspend people’s Constitutional rights if it’s only in ten day chunks. And then there are the folks who just want to get laid without having to ante up the cash:
Georgetown’s Copacino also sees problems. Standing around, even propositioning potential (non-paying) sexual partners while wearing a short skirt and stilettos, is not illegal. “You can’t criminalize normal behavior, ” says Copacino.
It gets worse:
The problem, says [Portland defense attorney Elizabeth Wakefield], is that the city is now issuing many of these charges as violations rather than crimes, which under Oregon law means that the defendants don’t qualify for court-appointed counsel who could encourage them to challenge the arrest.
Poor people = fair game.