California lawsuit hopes to decriminalize prostitution

An unusual lawsuit has been filed against the state of California. It's being brought by three prostitutes and a client who say their First Amendment rights are violated by laws banning what they do....

Doogan is the force behind what she calls "prostitute nation" and the three colleagues and a client who have filed a lawsuit, arguing California's anti-prostitution law is unconstitutional.

"Were adults and we can make decisions about our sexuality. We think it's protected under the first amendment the right to free speech, right to sexual privacy," Doogan said....
...the plaintiff's use in their GoFundMe campaign. The world's oldest profession has raised more than $30,000 by turning to new technology.

http://abc11.com/news/california-law...tution/547530/

Doogan said California didn’t outlaw prostitution until 1961, and it’s only illegal for reasons of morality. She said there’s no legitimate reason to make what she does for a living a crime.

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/201...onstitutional/


So when did prostitution become illegal in Texas?

I'm just trying to figure out how porno isn't the same thing as prostitution. Makes no sense why the one is legal and the other isn't.

I'm just trying to figure out how porno isn't the same thing as prostitution. Makes no sense why the one is legal and the other isn't. Originally Posted by HoustonDan

It's all about taxation, my friend. Morality is the "faux" excuse ... taxation, or doubts about the ability of the government to verify revenues for tax purposes, is the real reason.

I'm just trying to figure out how porno isn't the same thing as prostitution. Makes no sense why the one is legal and the other isn't. Originally Posted by HoustonDan

they made a run at porno long ago. You can read the verdicts.

The state (maybe CA?) said being paid for performing on screen was prostitution. They lost. The history might be on wiki.

......
So when did prostitution become illegal in Texas? Originally Posted by lyn.xes

Good question.

I'm just trying to figure out how porno isn't the same thing as prostitution. Makes no sense why the one is legal and the other isn't. Originally Posted by HoustonDan

Marriage is prostitution too ... the legally accepted kind.

In the end ... We will all realize that we are all "Johns" and "Hookers".

So when did prostitution become illegal in Texas? Originally Posted by lyn.xes

Looks like the oldest date on the existing law is 1973, effective Jan. 1 1974

http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.u.../htm/PE.43.htm

That's about the time The Chicken Ranch was shut down.

they made a run at porno long ago. You can read the verdicts.

The state (maybe CA?) said being paid for performing on screen was prostitution. They lost. The history might be on wiki. Originally Posted by GlobeSpotter

I recall in the 1970s Adult book stores, and Adult movie houses were raided. The clerks were charged with promoting obscene material. The customers were told to leave most of the time.

On March 4, the nonprofit Erotic Service Providers Legal, Education, and Research Project (ESPLER) filed a federal lawsuit seeking to challenge California's prostitution laws on multiple constitutional grounds. ESPLER was planning to partially fund the case with donations gathered on the crowdfunding platform GoFundMe. But apparently this runs afoul of the site's terms and conditions, which ban campaigns concerning "sexually explicit material" and "material relating to adult industry....

...And the FBI successfully used anti-racketeering law against a website for giving sex workers a place to speak and advertise. With the call to combat sex-trafficking reaching a fever pitch recently (and many officials refusing to distinguish between consensual and forced prostitution), this pressure is only poised to grow.

ESPLERP is still going forward with the suit, and will soon be accepting donations at Tilt.com now. "We apologize for the inconvenience and look forward to serving you in expanding sexual privacy for ALL,"

"There is no compelling or legitimate governmental interest" in criminalizing these activities, the suit alleges.... Their main claims are that California's prostitution law deprives individuals of the right to engage in private, consensual sexual activity—"a fundamental liberty interest protected by the Fourteenth Amendment" and "upheld by various courts throughout the United States" (most notably in Lawrence v. Texas)—along with their rights to choose how to make a living, decide whom to enter into contract with, freedom of speech, and freedom of association.

http://reason.com/blog/2015/03/09/es...awsuit-funding

Anyone here in Texas willing to file suit?

Chicken ranch closed in 1972, about two weeks after I lost my cherry there. It reopened for short time then closed for good.

"An unusual lawsuit has been filed against the state of California."

Was that filed before the lawsuit banning the flying of the U.S. flag in public places?

I recall in the 1970s ...... Originally Posted by dtymh55

Local application of "anti-prostitution" ordinances was used like vagrancy ordinances (until ruled unconstitutional) to pick up women "on the streets" and process them through the system to be "tested" for STD's, charged a small fine (like $25 .. which was like $300 now), and then released. In one Texas city with which I am familiar the Muni Courts processed them on Fridays, just in time for the weekend, and they were the only defendants on the docket in the afternoon. 25-30 at a time.

For years Galveston County was known for a "tolerance" of prostitution, as well as gambling.

Note that the reference to the FBI shutting down (Red Book) is not entirely accurate. The site operators were charged mainly with money laundering and tax evasion, with some underage prostitution allegations tossed in (imo) for publicity purposes