Comments on: Texas Spending $6.5 million on Prostitutes in Prisons

By: ed

ed — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 03:32:48 +0000

legalized prostitution started becoming a criminal act punishable by law around the 1920′s, ironically the 19th amendment proposed on may 19, 1919 and passed by congress June 4, 1919 giving women the right to vote just 1 year before criminalizing prostitution…. hmmm…. maybe divadab had a point..

By: That Was the Week That Was (#35) « The Honest Courtesan

That Was the Week That Was (#35) « The Honest Courtesan — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 10:04:56 +0000

[...] that it describes Melissa Farley as “a recognized national expert on prostitution.” This Agitator guest post on the subject by Eric Sterling of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition is far more satisfying: [...]

By: divadab

divadab — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 15:44:48 +0000

Prohibition of alcohol and prohibition of prostitution happened at the same time in the West. Both motivated, IMHO, by the women’s movement and women’s getting the vote in 1919. And at the time it was explicit – the pro-prohibition propaganda frequently lamented all the drunk working men wasting their money in bars with loose women, leaving their poor wives and children at home in poverty.

By: divadab

divadab — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 15:40:15 +0000

Guys, here’s a pretty obvious factor that you are missing – it’s “respectable” women who want prostitution illegal. In western mill towns in the 1890′s to the 1910′s, with large populations of single men, prostitution was the order of the day. Blaine, WA, for example, had over 90 bordellos in 1904. Bellingham, WA’s police force was paid from a tax on bordellos, which were everywhere in town, and well-protected by the police force.

However, once the good burghers’ wives (some of them ex-pro’s) started getting nice houses and clothes and a sense of bourgeois uppitiness, they started agitating for the abolition of the houses of ill repute (where their husbands might be spending time away from home). By the twenties, prostitution had been driven underground and the cozy relationship with the police ended.

Prostitutes are competition. That’s my theory. What do y’all think?

By: Uno Hu

Uno Hu — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 15:17:54 +0000

To Mike: It must be outlawed. It's happening right now, and somebody is having fun and somebody else is making money and the government isn't getting a slice of either!! And besides, we have some empty prison cells that we really need to fill!

By: Ted S.

Ted S. — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 11:34:30 +0000

Onlooker:

I was thinking the same thing. Great minds think alike. :-)

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 01:09:20 +0000

It is absolutely vital that prostitution be outlawed.

Why?

Because, um, well, uhh, hmm… I’ll get back to you on that.

But it must be outlawed!

By: Danny

Danny — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 00:29:41 +0000

I think the fear of prostitution is the fear of the power that a ‘transactional’ approach to sex would give women. Without legal prohibitions or stigmatization, sex-for-money would result in women getting control of the balance of wealth in pretty short order, especially if they collaborated with each other. It would be matriarchy in the end.

By: Mannie

Mannie — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 21:57:02 +0000

Make it legal.

If OSHA doesn’t drive the girls out of the business, nothing will.

By: Maggie McNeill

Maggie McNeill — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 21:45:05 +0000

Thanks very much for this, Eric; it answers a question I’ve had about LEAP in the affirmative. Obviously, at least some of y’all are against ALL prohibitionist laws rather than just against drug prohibition. And that is awesome.

By: Onlooker

Onlooker — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 21:39:55 +0000

When I saw the headline I thought that TX was spending millions on prostitutes for their inmates! LOL That would be a great way to alleviate all the sexual tension that builds up in there, eh? :-)

By: Bill Poser

Bill Poser — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 19:39:38 +0000

I’m wondering how that compares to the amount that Texas will spend on prostitutes at the Republican Convention…

On a serious note, making prostitution legal also allows for regulation, e.g. protection against abusive pimps, regular medical inspections and care, screening of johns.

By: liberranter

liberranter — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 19:14:06 +0000

Prostitutes, like users and dealers of (some) drugs, and people of certain racial/ethnic and sexual persuasions, are "poodles" (People "We" Don't Like) and are therefore an easy target for the sociopathic politicians who pander to the bigoted majority as a way of feeding their own ego and power. Because Boobus Americanus doesn't feel the direct cost of incarcerating these people (i.e., it doesn't come straight out of his wallet), he doesn't see the harm and futility in locking people up for non-violent crimes (i.e., no crime at all).

By: Boyd Durkin

Boyd Durkin — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 19:03:38 +0000

@#2
$300/night is actually pretty cheap. Treat yourself to $2000/session at least once!

By: Boyd Durkin

Boyd Durkin — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 19:01:43 +0000

Tragically large prison population, debt so large it can never be repaid, black hole of economies…

…and Chris Matthews (and other notables) deliver this shit to us:
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/chris-matthews-race-card-romney-priebus-145819601.html

Yes, the BIG issue with Romney is that he has an awkward sense of humor. Fucking dipshits.

The revolution needs to throw out more than just the politicians. Shoogey-shame, media elites!

By: DoubleU

DoubleU — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 18:12:29 +0000

Of the 350 women in prison how many are the $300 a night call girls and how many are the $5 crack whores?
I am willing to bet the $300 a night call girl is not walking around trashed on the street.

By: MH

MH — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 17:40:49 +0000

It’s all about “sending a message.”

By: Steamed McQueen

Steamed McQueen — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 16:59:40 +0000

Who benefits? The prison industry of course. Police, courts and prisons are the only part of the economy that is -and has been- growing rapidly because it is pretty much the only thing we can’t outsource.