San Diego
So, I was talking to a girl the other day, and she didn't know some things about the hobby that all of us ought to know...I hope none of you take offense at this, but I decided I'd post some law school stuff.
First, California's "prostitution" statute.
"647. Every person who commits any of the following acts is guilty
of disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor:
...
(b) Who solicits or who agrees to engage in or who engages in any act of prostitution. A person agrees to engage in an act of prostitution when, with specific intent to so engage, he or she manifests an acceptance of an offer or solicitation to so engage, regardless of whether the offer or solicitation was made by a person who also possessed the specific intent to engage in prostitution. No agreement to engage in an act of prostitution shall constitute a violation of this subdivision unless some act, in addition to the agreement, is done within this state in furtherance of the commission of an act of prostitution by the person agreeing to engage in that act. As used in this subdivision, "prostitution" includes any lewd act between persons for money or other consideration....”
(interestingly enough, the other things you can do in this section to break the law are
... skateboard in a public place
...loiter, and
... be drunk in public.
It does not seem that the California legislature intended for “prostitution”, whatever that means, to be a serious crime.)
Oh, but back to the point...
You must MANIFEST an ACCEPTANCE of an OFFER to engage in an act which involves a “lewd act between persons for money…”, and you must
do some ACT (in California) in furtherance of the act.
Now, the US Supreme Court has told us, time and time again, that State criminal statutes are to be STRICTLY construed. Strictly. That means that every word in the statute must be met. Doubts about the words in the statute are resolved in favor of the public.
So, what do we learn from this statute?
1) There must be an “offer” of a “lewd act” for money.
2) someone must “accept” that offer; and
3) There must be an “act” in furtherance of the offer/acceptance.
Now, if you see a post that says “Hi, I’m visiting”, is that an offer of a lewd act for money? I’m not Johnnie Cochran, (or William Shakespeare), but methinks not.
If you say, in response “can we meet?” No offer or acceptance of lewd conduct.
If you meet an old friend, and give that old friend a little gift when you leave, is that offer/acceptance/act? NNNNOOOOOOO. Remember, all these words in the statute must be STRICTLY construed.
Two points, therefore. OK, two more points 
, damn that Tequila.
1) LE WILL TRY TO MAKE AN OFFER, OR TRY TO GET YOU TO MAKE AN OFFER. They won’t be mellow about it, or evade the issue. “What are you looking for?”, or “tell me what we’re going to do” or “how much is this going to cost me?”Count on it. They will be way overspecific. They’ve read the statute, and they want a conviction.
2) LE knows what the statute says, but, from the LE point of view, it doesn’t matter to them if you’ve met the requirements of the statute, they’ll arrest you, they’ll harass you, they’ll do whatever. Last time I checked, we don’t live in Russia. We’re allowed to do whatever isn’t prohibited. The courts know that and won’t uphold a bad arrest. But LE doesn’t care. It’s called the thin blue line. THEY DON’T CARE WHAT THE LAW IS. THEY’LL ARREST YOU IF THEY FEEL LIKE IT.
So, if you do get arrested, don’t say a F_ing word! Not one word. Repeat it to yourself … not one word. They will write a police report. It will include their version of what you said. Which will be NOT ONE WORD. If you feel obligated to say something, repeat after me “I didn’t DO anything”.
I can’t tell if this post is helpful, or if it’s just the rantings of a tequila-overdosed maniac. If anyone finds this helpful, I’ll post a few more tidbits, so let me know.
O
