Ruth Marcus of the Wapo doesn't think legalization is the answer. She's repulsed by prostitution, and argues that it demeans and commodifies women. (But what about male ho's?) In an excellent column, she writes:
You could argue that prostitution should be legal in this country, as it is in many others -- that America should get over its hang-ups about sex and that regulating prostitution would protect women from being victimized. I don't buy that, and in any event, I don't see my privacy-advocate colleagues making that case.
One man who has understood the importance of dealing with the demand side [of the prostitution equation] is former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, who went after prostitution in the city by targeting customers as well as prostitutes. Under "Operation Losing Proposition," Giuliani's police arrested johns and confiscated their cars. He didn't wring his hands over their lost privacy.
So what does Candidate Giuliani say now -- now that his own marital missteps are campaign fodder, and his southern regional chairman is David Vitter? At a town meeting in New Hampshire last week, Giuliani sounded like my fellow columnists. "I believe," he said, "it's a personal issue."
What do other GOP presidential candidates currently think about prostitution? Mitt Romney made a point of saying he's against "perversions" in a recent commercial . He says he wants to clean the ocean of immorality so kids can swim safely, or something like that. It's vague, but seems related to the issue. Perhaps he could get more specific. Is he willing to denounce prostitution (and paying for it) as an immoral perversion? What does Vietnam veteran John McCain think about prostitution? What do the Democrats think?
The D.C. Madam's lawyer says there are 60 escort services like hers in the Washington D.C. area alone. Obviously, this profession will continue to persist over time. Should we just recognize it, and leave it up to the cities and states?
If prostitution is legalized, the goverment can tax it. But they'd also have to regulate it in some ways, and there'd be paperwork and red tape and licenses and fees.... just thinking about all that is enough to make you lose your "boom". But if it becomes a legal career path in some locales, then we can expect prostitution schools of higher learning to open, where advanced techniques and exotic fantasy services could be taught.
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Here's a link with information on the Canal Street Brothel case. It also has a quick and dirty summary of prostitution's history in New Orleans which I'll reprint:
Prostitution was legalized by city ordinance in 1897, in a confined area called Storyville, near the river and downtown on the site of what came to be the Iberville Housing Project. The area was shut down by the Navy in 1917 since it was too close to the new base and port, so the red light district moved to the French Quarter.
As late as the 1960s, prostitutes kept apartments on the second floor above businesses on Bourbon Street with two balcony lights. A red light meant busy. Green meant open for business.
But a series of police chiefs ran the elicit business off Bourbon Street, most notably Joseph Giarrusso, who became chief in 1960. The clean up the Quarter campaigns paved the way for seedy clubs to be replaced by the gift shops that dominate the Quarter today.
Famous New Orleans trumpeter Al Hirt, who died in 1998, was the most vocal opponent of the anti-prostitution drive, since the ladies and jazz went hand in hand to make the French Quarter and Bourbon Street the tourist draw that fed the local economy.
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Thx to Medium Jim for the Prostitution School link.
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Labels: Canal Street Madam, Elections and Campaigns, Giuliani, Mitt, Vitty-cent
