Do I have your attention?   Good.  Now whether your're wringing your hands, denying that anything bad is going to happen (are you fucking kidding me?), or claiming to be an HB6462 expert -- you need to follow these simple steps.

1. Here is the link to the Governor’s email.

http://www.illinois.gov/gov/contactthegovernor.cfm

2. Here is the subject line you should use:

“No” on unconstitutional HB 6462

3. Here is the text of your email.  Feel free to change it in any way you see fit.  You might even want to pay a lawyer to help you.  Like I did.

Governor Quinn, HB 6462 has some very good ideas.  No one wants trafficking or underage prostitution.  Many people don’t want prostitution at all, but that is no excuse for passing a defective bill.  Subjecting adults who consent to prostitution to felonies ON A FIRST OFFENSE is way out of proportion.  It puts those adults in  the same punishment category as traffickers, pimps, and those who have sex with minors.  As drafted this bill runs a risk of being declared unconstitutional, and then ALL OF IT WILL BE DECLARED VOID, EVEN THE GOOD PARTS.  I urge you to amdendatorily veto the adult penalty portions and keep the rest.


Having gone to the trouble and expense of doing this, I just want to say I can't believe what a sorry bunch of fucks we are.  We had far greater numbers and resources than they did.  No one could work up one dime to do any real lobbying.  Most people put their head in the sand and swore they would just be more careful in the future.  Those who did any actual work to help were ridiculed.  And don't get me started on the people -- and you know who you are -- who just wanted the whole thing to go away.  

Somebody's got to ask: are you using your heads to store old rags, or what?  You allowed a priceless opportunity to slip by and now we've been beaten.

If you want to rip on me you'll have to do it out in the open, can't PM an alias.  SJ7 and FT, just go ahead and moderate me.  TER may just kick me off, and frankly I could give a rat's ass less.

Thanks for taking the time to put this together.

Thank you for going thru the hassle and expense and sharing it with us!
I know you're angry with a lot of people but this is the way most react to any problem, hide the head in sand, pretend it will go away and leave it for someone else.
You still must care somewhat to share this with us.
I have emailed and called before but will do it again.

Some pretty valid points here, I'm new to the community  and didn't realize the importance of this.  I'm sure we all have anonymous email addresses, why not use them?  SOUG has posted a great start,  why not a little ctr+c/ctr+v action?

Thanks SOUG for posting your templet, and paying a lawyer to review it.

We often refer to ourself as 'the community,' maybe we could start acting like one?

In order to get the Governor's office to take the submitted comments seriously do we need to use our real name and contact info or is it OK to submit with a bogus name and contact info?

You can use all the fake email addresses you want, but they can still trace the computer you use through the IP. Many of us can't afford to have someone come to our house or work looking for the guy thats a hobbiest... Theres gotta be a better way...
Any ideas?????

As a newbie to this board, I was until recently unaware of this legislation.

Thanks for taking the time to post this, I sent an e-mail as you linked, with an altered form of your request.

It's the very least I could do.

Don't forget!  Dealing with government bodies is exactly like dealing with a lawyer. You need to specify exactly what it is you're talking about otherwise you become subject to criticism, ridicule and you just end up looking like a fool in the end.... WE DON'T WANT THAT.

While reading the End Demand letter on the subject earlier, I had a few questions:

1. A big concern is that the penalty increases have gone to a felony.  As I recall with most publicized sting operations, the typical charge has been "solicitation of a sexual act":  a Class B misdemeanor.  The new proposal calls for it to be a Class A misdemeanor.  This would affect mostly those in the "hobbyist" category, right?

2. The "solicitation for a prostitute", would be those individuals who would fall under the category "agency", right?  This was a Class A misdemeanor, but the proposal changes that it to a Class 4 felony.  Most of those publicized stings have never sited this as the charge.

3. The "patronizing a prostitute" charge would change from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class 4 felony.  But agian, this has never seemed to be sited in those stings.  Is it expected that any of the future highly publicized sting operations would aim for this charge?  If so, then why weren't they going for that charge before, as it carries a higher penalty (Class A vs. Class B)?

Open wifi spots.  Create the anonymous email account from it, send the letter and disregard it entirely afterward.

Actually, solicitation is the act of trying to encourage, aid, encite anyone in a criminal act. So solicitation can be both the John and the provider.

Solicitation of prostitution is a crime involving a person's agreement to exchange money for sex. This agreement does not have to be explicit. A person's actions can be enough to demonstrate agreement.

I Didn't Even Pay the Prostitute, Much Less Have Sex with Her. How Am I Guilty of a Crime?
The crime of solicitation of prostitution occurs at the moment you agree to pay for sex, and take some action to further that agreement. Solicitation is simply encouraging someone to commit a crime. It does not matter if the crime ends up being committed or not.

What Sorts of Acts "Further the Agreement"?
Pretty much any act demonstrating a willingness to go through with the agreement is an act of furtherance. Such acts can include:

   * Withdrawing money from the ATM
   * Taking the prostitute to a motel

If higher penalties can generate more revenues, get them more medals and pins then they will implement these more vigorously.. But lot depends on the DA too...

We could also point out that the way HB 6462 is written, Elliott Spitzer and Barney Frank would be classified as felons. How many other prominent people would be, too? How anout Al Gore?

Is that what Illinois really wants?

What will the effect be on convention and trade show business be? Are all conventioneers straight arrows? This can have a major impact on Chicago business.

That could be the most telling argument against the bill, the fear of getting caught in Chicago.

if the state is broke, the feds foot the bill?

Only state prosecutors ("State's Attorney" in Illinois) prosecute state law.  However, all attorneys want a good win/loss record.  Given a choice to prosecute a felony or a misdemeanor they'll go for the felony every time.  Having charged the felony they have leverage to deal for a guilty plea to a misdemeanor.  Who want's to risk substantial jail time?

Thanks for the post. I have prccessed the email to Gov. Quinn. Also signed up for the newsletter. The more we know about our government, the more we hold them accountable. Everyone should do this and thank you for pointing that off to get off my ass.

I wrote to the governor, and I used my regular email account, and I even put my name and address on the form.  I have a right to my opinion.  This is the God Damn U.S. of fucking A! No one is going to pull a Stalin on me for writing to the Gov.  You think they'll tap my phone, or my laptop?  There going to knock on my door?  And do what?  I don't like drug laws and gambling laws either. I've written letters to elected officials regarding this too.  Millions of people write letters to their Representatives, Senators, Governors, and the Pres. And they sure as shit don't write love letters. My advice: Grow a couple and get to work.