June 30, 2023

"'The point of this whole thing is to decrease the demand for commercial sex,' said Maine state Rep. Lois Reckitt (D), who sponsored the bill..."

"...  adding that she wanted to do something to help women in the 'revolving door' to get out of the sex industry. Reckitt said police traditionally have used the women they arrested for prostitution to get to the people trafficking them. 'Now they’re going to have to arrest the johns and lean on them to find out where the trafficking is coming from,' she said.... 'It denigrates all women when some women are being bought and sold,' said Reckitt, a former officer of the National Organization for Women who for three decades led an organization that fights domestic violence in Maine. 'There’s no way to have total gender equality in this world if we’re selling women.'"

47 comments:

Gahrie said...

No woman must be made to feel bad about, or responsible for, anything, ever.

Gahrie said...

I bet a lot of pimps just decided to move to Maine.

rhhardin said...

Do they exclude marriage as buying sex?

mccullough said...

Louisiana did this with alcohol in the late 1980s. Was legal to sell it to under 21 but was illegal to buy it.

Then the police never enforced it against the 18 year olds.

That’s what will happen here. There aren’t enough police officers as it is and the ones still around have higher priorities.

Performative Progressive Legislation.

Lincolntf said...

I'm trying to think how this will work at all. Two people willingly have an exchange of money for services rendered, and only one of them is guilty of a crime? Sounds like hitting the drug users with the Law while allowing the dealers to go free.

RideSpaceMountain said...

"There’s no way to have total gender equality in this world if we’re selling women."

If women sell everything but their 'bonus hole', does that still count as "selling women"? Asking for a friend.

madAsHell said...

Maine state Rep. Lois Reckitt (D)

Bobbet, Reckitt. At this point.......”what difference does it make!”

madAsHell said...

They can’t tax commercial sex?

Quaestor said...

Something legal to sell but illegal to buy. Hmmm... The obvious contradiction suggests this law will stub its big, stupid toe on the 14th Amendment and fall flat on its big stupid face.

Richard Dolan said...

"if we’re selling women.'"

Who's the 'we,' exactly?

Strikes me that the effort to prohibit the sex trade by criminalizing the 'John' half of it but letting the prostitute free reign to pursue the trade, is nuts. As markets go, that's a really weird set-up, and bound to work in ways unlike whatever the proponents are trying to accomplish. More generally, prohibiting prostitution has always been a failure, and today there's no gain for anyone in trying to legislate it out of existence. Besides, I thought the enlightened view (!) now is that 'sex workers' should be allowed to pursue their chosen field without being demeaned for their choice. If so, then same with the 'Johns'. Like porn (kiddie porn, e.g.), it should get penalized when it goes too far -- e.g., the John or the prostitute gets violent or one side tries to blackmail the other. The crime becomes whatever went too far, but not the consensual bargain itself. Sex trafficking is already illegal (comes with some hefty penalties, as it should), so no need for this ineffective half-prohibition if that's what it's aiming at.

Caroline said...

I had no idea that prostitutes could still find work in Weimar America.

Kate said...

...wut?

Josephbleau said...

“selling sex/Buying sex will remain illegal in the state”.

This is horrible, they are making prostitutes consort with criminals!

Mountain Maven said...

What'll people think when the pimps move into their neighborhoods?

Big Mike said...

If they totally legalized prostitution in college towns, that would reduce book-ups and help to eliminate false charges of rape.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

'Now they’re going to have to arrest the johns and lean on them to find out where the trafficking is coming from,' she said....

She didn't happen to explain how the johns might know who was behind the trafficking did she?

Robert Marshall said...

"[T]hey’re going to have to arrest the johns and lean on them to find out where the trafficking is coming from" instead of the old fashioned way, which is arresting women "to get to the people who are trafficking them."

How is that going to work? Arresting a prostitute might get her to put the finger on her pimp, though that's risky for her. But arresting the john? What the hell does he know about the business, other than he liked what she looked like on the street. In most cases, he doesn't know the pimp, or anyone else in the prostitution food-chain. If the arrest is supposed to roll-up the higher-ups in the business (a noble goal, no doubt), it has to be the prostitute. The john is a know-nothing.

Wince said...

Maine becomes first state to decriminalize selling sex/Buying sex will remain illegal in the state

"The point of this whole thing is to decrease the demand for commercial sex."

Sounds more like, ceteris paribus, they'll be increasing the supply by reducing the risk to the prostitute.

Reckitt said police traditionally have used the women they arrested for prostitution to get to the people trafficking them. 'Now they’re going to have to arrest the johns and lean on them to find out where the trafficking is coming from...

What incentive remains to rat-out your pimp? And what do johns know about the pimps?

Jupiter said...

"Now they’re going to have to arrest the johns and lean on them to find out where the trafficking is coming from,' she said....".

The idea is to arrest the people who buy sex, and force them to reveal who they have been buying it from. Right? Except, you aren't going to arrest the people they have been buying it from, because they haven't been doing anything illegal.

Wouldn't it be simpler to just tax it? Then you can arrest the prostitutes for tax evasion.

Rockeye said...

How could that possibly work? If a product is legally sold but illegal to purchase? I'm confused. You can't have it both ways.

MadTownGuy said...

COYOTE may beg to differ.

rosebud said...

So can a man and a woman mutually sell sex to one another, presumedly with the man paying more?

Aggie said...

One look at her and I can see what she's mad about.

M said...

Stupid. The women know their traffickers and pimps. The men rarely do. This is just more leftists absurdities like “defunding the police to make black communities safer”.

Doug said...

That oughta work out just swell. Never hold women responsible for any of the horrible choices they make.

hawkeyedjb said...

"how best to legislate prostitution"

Funny way to spell "legalize." It will work very well, just like drug legalization, excuse me, "legislation" has worked so well in California. Just look at the paradise San Francisco has become!

With lots of employment opportunities for Honduran illegals. Maybe they'll expand into new lines of business in Maine.

tim maguire said...

It’ll be legal to sell sex, but illegal to buy it? How is that going to work, conceptually?

Lilly, a dog said...

There goes my vacation. I had such big plans. Lobster, drawn butter, sexy Maine whores...

JAORE said...

Say you want to enlist in the War on Drugs. You bust a drug sale. Let the dealer go and pressure the buyer to name the source of the drugs.

Most likely response. "Well I know the guy you just let go."

How is this different?

walter said...

Let's pretend all prostitutes/escorts work involuntarily.
Seems like an...affirmative action of sorts.

Skeptical Voter said...

What happens when an ugly pot bellied 50 year old guy (divorced, but owns a very successful business and is worth maybe $5 million--which is a lot of money in Maine) marries a 22 year old hottie. She doesn't love him, but she is attracted to the size of the wallet.

Is the 50 year old a criminal? You betchum Little Beaver.

Smilin' Jack said...

'It denigrates all women when some women are being bought and sold,' said Reckitt, a former officer of the National Organization for Women who for three decades led an organization that fights domestic violence in Maine. 'There’s no way to have total gender equality in this world if we’re selling women.'"

Relax, lady. They’re not being bought and sold, only rented. That’s the whole point of prostitution.

mikee said...

So what of the law against pimping? One might think a law criminalizing the business management of a legal activity is ripe for a judicial challenge. Just be sure to keep records for taxes with GAAP.

As for the johns, under the concept of goose, gander, and equality of sauce for both, buying legally sold sex isn't gonna stay illegal, either.

walter said...

Meanwhile, Joementia's "surge" at the border continues with rape trees and trafficking galore.
Any update from Inga's Migrant Hostel/Rape Rooms?

Thomas W said...

This is basically the Nordic Model which several countries in Europe have adopted. Most sex workers roundly condemn it as making them less safe. The article also perpetuates the (false) narrative that all sex workers are pimped and abused.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Sounds like Rep Reckitt has no idea how such things work.

Yep, per Wikipedia she's a sprightly 78 years young!

Old and slow said...

The law in Ireland has been this way for some years now. It is illegal to buy sex. It is also illegal to run a prostitution business. Sole proprietors only. I have no idea how well it is working out for the Irish, but if history is any guide, it's probably a mess. They seem to get regulations horribly wrong and then puzzle over the perverse incentives later.

Narayanan said...

so WOMAN INC. sells shares with BENEFITS and listed on exchange and part of ordinary portfolio management

Oso Negro said...

Hmmm.... progressive morality versus pussy. I doubt progressive morality lasts seven rounds.

Owen said...

Interesting problem, where A can legally sell to B but B cannot legally buy from A. The solution? Simple. Enter C. A will “donate” her services to B provided B “donates” the price to C, a not-for-profit (Hookers’ Relief Fund). C will then award A a grant that matches AB’s “donation,” less a modest administrative fee.

Owen said...

Interesting problem, where A can legally sell to B but B cannot legally buy from A. The solution? Simple. Enter C. A will “donate” her services to B provided B “donates” the price to C, a not-for-profit (Hookers’ Relief Fund). C will then award A a grant that matches AB’s “donation,” less a modest administrative fee.

FullMoon said...

Sounds like denying many women the opportunity to supplement their income.

Rabel said...

So a young lady (or man, I suppose) can feign interest in a man (or woman), engage in a brief sexual encounter with him for promised compensation of any type (i.e., breakfast at Tiffany's), document it surreptitiously but legally, and then threaten to expose him to criminal prosecution if compensation does not continue indefinitely, all at no cost to herself other than a case of sticky fingers.

Looks like a promising business opportunity to me.

Careful phrasing/timing of the "requests" for future gifts would easily defeat an extortion charge.

Girrl Power!

ObeliskToucher said...

John: "How much will a lollipop and a pencil with eraser cost me?"
Entrepreneur: "That'll be $150 for the lollipop, and 300 for the pencil -- plus sales tax"
John: "I'll need an itemized receipt showing the items purchased"
Entrepreneur: "Not a problem - here you go."

Joe Bar said...

Prostitution was legal in Rhode Island from 1980 until 2009, as there was no specific law outlawing it. "although associated activities were illegal, such as street solicitation, running a brothel, and pimping."

As far as I know, Providence didn't turn into Sodom and Gomorrah.

Mind your own business said...

There’s no way to have total gender equality in this world if we’re selling women.'"

Good luck with that. So long as women find that their major contribution to the National GDP is to s*ck and f*ck with multiple different men every day ...

Like the joke goes, they can learn math and science, or they can become strippers and pole dancers. Too many find math too hard.

Don't paint me as misogynistic. There are a comparable cohort of men who are also pretty useless. They just can't make money with sex. Instead, they usually die. Cannon fodder or criminals/drug addicts.

Bunkypotatohead said...

So after the johns and the pimps are busted, how is the whore supposed to make a living?