I know this subject is old news....
But what people dont know is, it's intended to go nationwide.
It would make first time solicitation a felony.
It's mixed with things that most ppl approve of (protecting kids) but to make seeing a provider a FELONY?
Men can beat their wives with less punishment.
What is wrong with this country? Why are we so obsessed with punishing sex?
If you think you're living in a free country, check out the ACLU website. I dont agree with them on everything, but much of what is going on in this country is an outrage.
Womens abortion rights attacked, pregnant women rights attacked, gun rights, speech...
I know I sound like chicken little but we are slowly becoming a police state.

it will apply nationwide, and it is extremely unlikely that other states would pass comparable legislation.

    My take on the the bill was that it did not make two party solicitation a felony but in fact retained the old statute making two party solicitation a misdemeanor. It did make "solicitation FOR a prostitute" a felony which spooked most of the Chicago Board but I think they misread the statute as it applies only  to third party arrangers-i.e., pimps.

    More troubling is it did make the first time performance of sex for money a felony but that crime is rarely provable unless the guy or gal flips and testifies for the state. Finally, it made maintaining a place of prostitution a felony but there is an open question as to whether that would apply to two party incalls or one time outcalls.

     So clearly Illinois is making a statement here but IMHO the actual effect of these laws will not be as dire as the Chicago board feared.

pay between consenting adults as a felony.  End Demand’s primary focus is on sex trafficking and protecting children. That is a very worthy goal and most of the increased penalties address these types of abuses. But I see no compelling policy for increased criminal penalties for consenting adults.  

       Claims that ending demand for sex have been effective in reducing the number of sex workers/participants  have been hotly disputed by SWOPE. And you can find just as many experts who say that legalization and regulation would be far more effective in protecting the health of participants than throwing them in jail. Add to that the reality that state prison systems are overflowing as it is and there is no money to expand prisons to account for thousands of guys and gals whose only crime was prostitition.

      The hobby already is a felony under federal law, though few seem to realize that. Everytime you use the internet to connect with a lady and a date ensues, you both have committed a federal crime codified in the Travel Act. Yet federal prosecutors almost never bother chasing after hobbyists – Mr. Spitzer was not prosecuted at all and the US atty officially stated that his policy was not to pursue such sex offenders. They took the DC Madam down but didn’t bother with the clients and employees. The judge even tried to keep their names out of the official record as much as possible. So there clearly is no federal "get tough" movement here.

   There is also a question of “is it effective?” Has prostitution decreased in Arizona as result of the mandatory jail time for first time offenses? Never seen a study saying that. There is also a constitutional problem but we will save that for another day. I think Illinois and Arizona are aberrations and if anything the momentum is going the other way.

    But of course the changes are bad for the hobby- I've never disputed that. I simply read the solicitation for prostitutes statute and concluded that the other posters were misreading it.
I was surprised and still do not understand why the patronizing statute was upgraded since you now seem to have made prostitution -as opposed to solicitation - both a misdemeanor and a felony in separate statutes.

      Looks more like bad drafting to me rather than any reasoned legislative effort.








-- Modified on 8/15/2010 9:19:42 PM

the increased penalties may be unconstitutionally broad because there arguably is no rational basis for treating sex for pay in private, between consenting adults, without agencies or pimps, as a felony. The Supreme Court case you reference is significant bc it held that advancement of a moral code will not support criminalizing private consensual sexual conduct.

    So the state will have to show that there is some rational basis for making the hobby a felony in order for the statute to be upheld. The state's failure to meet the rational basis test, of course, is why the California judge struck the law outlawing same sex marriages, so the judicial trend remains to treat this requirement seriously.

-- Modified on 8/15/2010 9:20:47 PM

People figured out a long time ago if you can take all the joy away from another human being, then you can control their entire lives. That's why drugs are illegal, and that's why prostitution is illegal. It's also why it's harder to make a living, and why television and music sucks ass these days.

the law is supposedly aimed at pimps and houses of prostitution. This may include agencies. It is damn near impossible to entrap an independent provider who check references. And it may be un-constructional due to the recent decision of the Supreme Court on the Texas case.

One thing for sure. If Ilinois trys to crack down on the business the way it's run there it will flourish under control of the mafia and the price will go up. Illinois is the planets capitol of corruption


-- Modified on 8/15/2010 8:01:20 PM

End Demand, the organization responsible for this legislation, is national. Won't a victory in Illinois embolden them? Won't they gain traction with other state legislatures? Marikod, I'm not trying to attack you here but I'm a bit perplexed by your response to this issue, every time it comes up on the boards you seem to jump at the chance to downplay it. Maybe you are right and the sky is not falling, but can you at least admit that this is bad for the hobby? Even the one hobby-related offense that is not slated to become a felony is still being upgraded to a more serious misdemeanor charge, and the added felony charges are troubling at best, sometimes the threat of a felony is all that is required to flip someone. Not to mention that Chicago LE is infamous for partaking in a provider's services before busting her.

and you have allayed some of my fears, but I still am waiting quite anxiously to see what the reality of this legislation will be. After reading many horror stories of victims of the drug war and knowing how vehemently some people oppose prostitution I think my fears of get tough policies aren't entirely unfounded. Hope you are right Marikod!

private Sex between consenting adults under any circumstances should not be any sort of crime.

We're spending a lot of time reading between the lines of vague legislation but it'll be interesting to see what happens starting next Tuesday. Here are my guesses:

- LE will run a bunch of stings to teach us a lesson and scare the crap out of us (more than usual)

- Hobbyists will temporarily postpone our fun while waiting to see what LE has in their bag of tricks

- Providers will get frustrated by the lack of appointments and some will give up (see line above)

- Agencies, assistants, screeners, pimps, etc. will be screening much more heavily which will lead to...

- Some hobbyists no longer making the grade with agencies, screeners, assistants, etc.

- Providers leaving the agencies/assistants/screeners due to a lack of appointments (see line above)

And this is only the first week. Just wait till the first felony charge pops up. Hell, we were scared when MC got busted and that was nowhere near Chicago. My personal hope is that one of our high and mighty legislators in Springfield gets caught with a prostitute and gets his ass charged with a felony. Now that's payback everyone can agree on

I think Governor will amend the bill from Felony to misdemeanor for first offense  and to felony for second offense.  If not then says your prayers, LE will crackdown Hard in first few months to send the message loud and clear to pimps, agencies, appointment makers, professional hobbyist and providers to get ready for some prison time and huge fines. After few months they will come back to normal and only bust few as they normally do and more plea bargains.... by this time most providers will be gone and only few die hard hobbyist left to take the risk... End Demand will win

My .02 cents..

The unholy alliance between the religious right and radical feminists on this issue is quite remarkable.  The ultimate goal of radical feminists: They want all sperm to be distributed exclusivelly from sperm banks, (no sperm can come straight from the penis, except into a sperm bank).  The sperm will not be taken by means of pleasure, but by a surgical procedure.  The religious right: They want every penis licensed and accounted for.  The penis will only be allowed to become erect during a procreative session.  Many violations will occur, thus altogether ending the right to have a penis.

I agree 100%

1. Providers will become indie's and demand ref. do there own screening. Screening will be tougher.
2. Organized crime will get back into the business in Chitown in a big way and FS will mean women and anything else.

Governor Quinn did sign the Law today without making any changes.

So now what ?

How this will affect hobbying.

Those &astards do it all the time and then go on TV and speak about the Bible and god...I CAN'T WAIT Until that happens