Carrying over from general discussion – replying to San_Te’s post. San_Te's questions/paragraphs preceeded by a -
- I have seen alot of posts regarding "victimless crime"; most of which say law enforcement shouldn't waste our tax money on these "victimless crimes". The most common examples given of these "victimless crimes" are prostitution, drugs and gambling. Ironically, these historically have been staples of "organized crime". Aside from a few other crimes and the occassional hit, most crimes committed by the mafia are of the "victimless" variety. Should law enforcement stop enforcing these victimless crimes and leave the mob alone?
Separate issue. If the mob is making legal money from legal enterprises they are not breaking the law and are in effect a legal entity, a holding company if you will. However, illegal activities such as murder, money laundering, coercion, collusion, etc should be prosecuted. If done correctly legalization will be for independents only. Earning money from it by anyone other than the provider will be severely limited though I think that there should be an option for an agency to provide services such as advertising, phones, etc. In this case the agency would not employ the provider or have any control over them – only offer admin services to them.
As in other areas I believe legalization of prostitution itself, if done correctly, will expose those areas that indeed should be illegal such as coercion, child prostitution, etc.
I would not place this in the same league as drugs which I’m not sure is truly victimless. I’ve seen enough car accidents and other events caused by drug users (and I was one so I know first hand).
- What would your answer be if say a terrorist organization was earning money from these victimless crimes? Lets say Osama brings over all his wives and they shed their berkas (spelling?) and set up shop? What about if Osama were earning money selling drugs to us to finance his plots against us? Hmn!
Separate issue. UBL is making a lot of money with legal businesses in the US such as the money transfer outfits. Regardless of how the money is being made it should be stopped. Would legalization and therefore above ground operations make it easier to track vs. when the entire business is underground?
- Next, is prostitution truely victimless? What about those forced into it because of the high amount of income that can be made? Do you know the stories behind the girls working in the local AMP? Do you think it is also possible that some of those faces on the back of milk cartons are engaged in prostitution because someone is exploiting them because of all the money that can be made?
Prostitution itself is a victimless crime, though there are, like with many industries, victims within it. Those that choose to participate I assume, and possibly incorrectly, are not victims. People forced into it by another person are victims and should be helped. The person who forced them should be jailed.
Legalization will help reduce the amount of forced prostitution though I do not believe anything will ever completely eliminate it. Clients and providers will be able to openly report illegal activity and providers will be able to operate openly allowing those doing something illegal to more easily stand out.
- What about a young lady with a serious substance abuse problem and prostitution feeds her more funds to get more and more drugs rather than get help from this other victimless crime?
Separate issue. People get drug money from various sources both legal and illegal. I think that assistance does need to be offered to drug addicts, but they have to make the decision that they want to get free from drugs themselves, otherwise assistance is of no use. My experience has been that non-gov’t programs are best for substance abuse so maybe each client pays an additional $20 with each visit towards a fund to help pay for this.
I can also envision providers coming together and forming their own support organization so that they can get group medical, dental, and 401k benefits. This might also include substance abuse counceling.
- What about the ladies working hard earning $10 per hour because they don't want to engage in the victimless crime? Are they victims?
No, it’s freedom of choice. A close friend of mine with a law degree from Yale chose to become a woodworker. He earns about 1/10 what he would as an atty and less than even entry level software programmers. Is he a victim? Another friend’s daughter recently decided to work for UPS from 2 a.m. until 7 a.m. sorting packages and loading trucks. She has said on numerous occasions since starting that it is not just hard work, but also humiliating and degrading. However, she said that it’s worth it since she makes more money than she would in other jobs. In discussing it one night she said that she thinks she'd rather be a provider than work at UPS, but would rather work at UPS than be a stripper.
