Posted on 06/24/2004 12:34:28 AM PDT by sarcasm
BERKELEY, Calif. -- Residents of this left-leaning city will have a chance to vote in November on whether they think prostitution should be a crime.
An advocacy group announced Wednesday it had gathered nearly 3,200 signatures, about 1,000 more than needed to get the initiative on the ballot.
The measure would have little more than symbolic value, since it wouldn't undo laws against prostitution. But Robyn Few, head of the Sex Workers Outreach Project, said a win at the polls would send an important message.
"What we're trying to do is build a groundswell here in California," she said.
Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates was out of town and could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Earlier this year, the City Council declined to endorse decriminalizing prostitution.
Beyond its symbolic value, the ballot initiative would order the police department to give the "lowest priority" to enforcing anti-prostitution laws.
Police spokesman Joe Okies said the department didn't have any immediate response to the initiative.
Few, who recently completed six months house arrest on federal charges of conspiring to commit prostitution, said decriminalizing prostitution is a civil rights issue.
"As long as something is illegal, it's going to remain unsafe and exploited. I want to see women be empowered to speak up and demand their rights," she said.
Finally, a story out of Berkeley that actually makes sense.
As long as it's done behind closed doors, the world's oldest profession should be allowed. It's a total waste of city and government resources to be setting up stings and prosecuting people for engaging in totally consensual activities.
If exchanging money for sex is truly a crime worth prosecuting, we should throw in jail any man who has ever been treated to hot, wild sex with a girlfriend or wife only after taking her to a fancy restaurant. We should throw in jail any woman who marries a rich man who is decades older. (That would include Don Imus' wife, the late Tony Randall's wife, etc.)
In this rare instance, Berkeley (and several counties in Nevada) have it right, while the rest of the country has it wrong.
Us zealous right-wing idealogues have no right to shove our antiquated Judeo-Christian values and morals down these sick perverts throats.
I mean really... Who are we to say that a man can't love his cat?
and thats because...
Nobody knows what goes on behind closed doors.
Legalize prostitution and the price will go up for the consumer. Prostitutes will have to pay taxes on that income. The city will also add a new layer of bureaucracy to its department of environmental health, to monitor the "industry." Those increased costs will be picked up by the taxpayers, most of whom have no interest in prostitution. There will probably be more business costs for the legalized whore houses, such as insurance, health plans for its employees, etc. That will also drive up costs. What you're proposing is bad for the consumer and bad for the taxpayer.
And can you imagine the retirement plan necessary for a profession where employees can't really serve customers after they turn 40 something? That's a mighty young retirement age.
How about throwing John Kerry in jail for marrying two rich women (two strikes... a third and he gets life!)
Berkeley is behind the times, all you have to do is go to Tijuana ...
and thats because...
Nobody knows what goes on behind closed doors.
Well, married people have sex behind closed doors, too. That doesn't mean it isn't a beautiful thing. There are plenty of legal activities we keep behind closed doors because we don't want children or other people to stumble upon it.
You may be right about it costing more for the prostitutes' customers, but I think you're wrong about the taxpayers. From what I know about how it's done in Nevada (gee, I don't know how I would know, LOL!), I believe the prostitutes and the brothels actually pay licensing fees that cover the costs of the state.
Also, since Nevada is a rare place where this is legal, the state and taxpayers benefit from tourists who spend their money at the brothels and at nearby businesses.
(AP) - June 24 - Former President Bill Clinton is reported to be considering selling his Chappaqua, NY home and moving to an undisclosed city in the San Francisco Bay area.
I wish the creep had found himself a hooker instead of raping Juanita Broaddrick that day in Little Rock.
>>As long as it's done behind closed doors, the world's oldest profession should be allowed.
Let the government run it. Mandatory health screenings for the screwers as well as the screwees.
In Nevada, they do regular health screenings of the brothel workers and mandate use of condoms. In all the years they've legalized it, I don't think they've ever had an AIDS case linked to a brothel.
Curiously enough, most of the people who signed the petition were named "John". "I didn't know we had so many John's here in Berkeley", a group spokesman said.
*****
Proposed Initiative for Berkeley
Below is a working document of the proposed ballot item. Use this as a template to begin an initiative in your area to decriminalize. Contact for further info.
Angel's Initiative
Shall the City of Berkeley help stop violence against women, demand that the State of California repeal laws that prohibit private consensual adult sexual behavior and that treat women unfairly, make enforcing those laws a low police priority, and cease wasting vital funds?
WHEREAS, Persons should never be forced into having sex or doing any other act against their will, whether by force or fraud, and whether they are adults or children.
WHEREAS, Laws that make criminals of adults for having consensual sex have a profound effect on the safety and well being of those adults, with all that imports for the dignity of the persons charged. When victims of such laws receive criminal convictions, collateral consequences always follow; and ...
Thanks. Nobody really goes into the actual negative economic consequences of things like legalizing prostitution.
You fail to factor in the monetary and nonmonetary costs of illegal prostitution: having to seek out sellers in the seedy parts of town, the possibility of arrest, etc.
Sounds like they want to increase tourism.
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