“ Section 207.12 is confined to sexual activity "for hire." Among the reasons for undertaking to repress prostitution, the danger of spreading disease is the only one applicable to non-commercial promiscuity.
Even on this score, non-commercial "promiscuity" appears to be less dangerous than commercial prostitution. Non-commercial prostitution involves indiscriminate acceptance of new sexual partners from time to time, but not intercourse with dozens of strangers daily. It any event, the health menace involved in amateur promiscuity seems to call for educational and medical remedies rather than penal law. The more serious dangers of professional vice are absent: necessity and means to corrupt law enforcement; incentive to coerce and exploit women; maintenance of criminal organizations and parasitic elements living on the proceeds of prostitution and therefore committed to promote the activity by finding new customers and new women to serve them. It should be noted also that a law punishing promiscuous, but non-commercial, sex activity would reach all males who seek sexual gratification indiscriminately, whether with professional prostitutes or amateur partners. This would involve contradiction of our policies on illicit extramarital relations generally-see Comment on Section 207.1-and on patronizing prostitutes-see Comment 8 below.
A case might be made for limiting the offense of prostitution to "promiscuous" sexual activity for hire. Requiring promiscuity as well as hire would, for example, bar prosecution of a mistress who is supported by her lover. Such situations fall somewhat outside the target evils of our Section, but the "hire" requirement itself is probably a sufficient safeguard, since the lover's financial contributions in these relationships are more likely to be interpreted as gifts out of general affection rather than "hire" for sexual activity. Another effect of requiring promiscuity as well as hire would be to exclude cases where a girl not generally engaged in commercial activity nevertheless consents to have intercourse on a particular occasion in exchange for a promised reward. Again this seems to fall outside the defined objective of the present Section and to impinge on our decision elsewhere that criminal law is not a useful or safe form of regulating private illicit sexual relations. Yet, acceptance of hire on one occasion is some indication of willingness to commercialize promiscuously. It would appear to place a disproportionate burden on prosecution to require proof of promiscuity in every ordinary prostitution case where hire is shown, merely to exclude possible prosecution in certain cases of meretricious relations which, in any event, are unlikely to come to the attention of authorities. “ –pg. 175-176 0600 Model Penal Code - Tentative Draft 9 144 1959
“Subsection (1) has been revised to meet in part the views of those who are skeptical of the propriety or utility of using the criminal law to repress individual immorality. It no longer purports to reach every engagement in sexual activity for hire. Thus, the possibility of applying the Section to the private mistress whose lover contributes to her support is now excluded. But we adhere, in paragraph (a), to the position of the previous draft that professional prostitution is criminal even if carried on in private.” -pg. 236 1010 Model Penal Code - Miscellaneous 233 1962
What do you think about this comment on the MPC? If you want prostitution to be legalized, the MPC must be revised.
Many state legislators get their guidance from the MPC when writing or voting on criminal laws. The chances are very slim for prostitution legalization without these sections being revised.
-- Modified on 9/27/2013 9:28:58 PM
