Just wait until the libertarians show up.
Posted on 06/01/2005 4:05:37 PM PDT by Dashing Dasher
In a civilized and progressive country, buying sex from a prostitute would be no different than buying meat from a butcher. Indeed, most Western countries have reasonable laws regarding prostitution, in the U.S. we are faced with Christian fundamentalists imposing their values on the rest of us. If they can't browbeat us into joining their moral crusade, then they will enact laws to prevent us from doing what they secretly wish they could.
Buy sex from a hooker in liberal Oakland, Ca and you many lose your vehicle and see your mug shot plastered on a billboard or bus shelter.
Oakland police initiated a new "shaming campaign" to crack down on the oldest profession. The program will include surveillance cameras erected along busy streets. Videotapes of those soliciting ladies of pleasure will be handed over to Oakland police and Alameda County prosecutors. Customers convicted of soliciting prostitution could see their visages featured prominently on billboards and at bus stops. In addition to enduring 15 minutes of infamy, johns will also have their automobiles seized by the police.
The role of law enforcement should be to prevent crime, protect citizens and apprehend criminals -- it should not be to shame, ridicule or humiliate lawbreakers.
In a theocracy like Saudi Arabia, police officers acting in their capacity as moral guardians, sometimes publicly flog transgressors. But in a secular democracy, cops should enforce the law of the land and not attempt to shame citizens into being "morally pure."
When I lived and worked in Oakland , my biggest fear was not being solicited by a lady of the evening. I was more worried about having my home broken into or being hit upside the head by a crack addict.
Instead of implementing a "shaming campaign" to deal with the issue of prostitution, the city of Oakland should legalize it. There are many benefits to legalized prostitution. The benefits include (1) allowing law enforcement agencies to allocate their resources to more serious crimes, (2) freeing the criminal justice system from nuisance cases, (3) helping women who are trapped by prostitution, and (4) preventing children from being ensnared into streetwalking, and (5) enabling trysts to happen within controlled environments that bring about safety for both the customers and the working girls.
Trying to shame citizens into being morally upright should be relegated to the dustbin of history. What's next, if a husband wins his divorce case against his wife, will she be forced to sew a "Scarlet A" on all her outfits?
This guy takes a DU-Worthy-View of the actions of The City of Oakland.
Did he forget that SOLICITING A PROSTITUTE IS ILLEGAL????
Just wait until the libertarians show up.
My opinion... If you don't like a law - fight to change it. Don't just break it because you don't like it.
Ducking... awaiting incoming flaming bombs.
I agree with your take. If you don't like a law, work to change it. But don't come crying when you get popped for breaking it.
The key is here is the confiscation of someone's vehicle for a petty crime. It's just another grab at assets.
Some light reading, PING!!!
LOL!
I think that's wrong - but I think the billboard is funny!
It's an all male practice down there is it not?
If this were Rodney King, it would be with male prostitutes.
I've got these ten Laws down, you see, but I'm sketchy on the rest of 'em.
"It seems that in America you may rent a woman's womb but not her vagina."
this was from kathe pollit but i can't find the reference on the web.
How?
and enabling trysts to happen within controlled environments that bring about safety for both the customers and the working girls.
Can you just see it? An office in the business district of town. John comes in for his 2:30 appointment with "Belle". LOL!!
No, that's on the other side of the bridge, SF...
Oakland is more crack addicts and really scary stuff.
Used to be the murder capital of the US - but, Jerry Brown has really turned it around - now it's only #2 or #3.
/sarc
ZING!
Oh, do they pay the pimps directly?
I guess if they put the pictures of the prostitutes up, it would just be free advertisement?
Yup... Oakland, CA... Now there's a regular hotbed of Christian fundementalism for ya. They even have Rev. Jerry Brown for a mayor.
LOL
What he really thinks of prostitutes...
What a pig...
There were many versions of this story, I was so annoyed by his article - I chose this version to post.
Yuck!
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