Senator Debbie Stabenow (D) has divorced her husband – and, frankly, she should have gotten one free kick in the groin in, too. This stems from an incident in 2006 where then-husband Thomas Athans got arrested for soliciting a prostitute. David Catanese calls the details ‘not pretty,’ and I agree:
Athans, 46 at the time, was not charged with soliciting and testified against the 21-year-old Westland woman. The woman was sentenced to probation on a charge of misdemeanor trespassing.
The older I get, the more hard-nosed (and less libertarian) I become about prostitution*. But there’s something off-putting about a john being able to skate on a solicitation arrest by testifying against a hooker on a misdemeanor charge. You have to wonder whether the sentence “Do you know who I am?” was uttered at any point during the initial arrest… and whether it, indeed, made a difference…
Moe Lane
*Short version: I don’t approve of it, I recognize that there’s a fairly obnoxious cultural double standard in place for prostitutes and their clients, I don’t like what the institution does to prostitutes, and I don’t see what making it illegal does except add a strong element of physical risk to people in that profession. I’m also waiting to hear of a good solution to all of this, because we don’t have one now.
My solution to prostitution: it should be illegal only for the married, and amongst those, only the ones that do not have their spouse’s consent.
There’s a solution already: the Bunny Ranch. Legalized brothels which are regulated by the Health Department. Get it off the streets. Make it safe. Make it legal. Let’s be honest: a large fraction of “relationships” involve very little actual emotional intimacy and are essentially trading financial security for sexual favors.
And let’s remember that aside from removing crime from the streets, we’re also removing the need for that many cops and jailers, clearing court dockets, taking money out of other areas of crime funded by prostitution, etc.
I take the same attitude toward gambling too: let’s be honest, there is NO moral argument against legalizing it and regulating it Vegas-style. The government gave up that ghost long ago when they started running lottos, scratch-offs, Keno, etc. The only thing that stops it now is the government being scared of losing revenue to private industry. Again, reduce the crime on the street, the number of cops, jailers and judges, and deprive crime syndicates of a major source of income.
Legalize drugs too for private use on private residential property. Do whatever you want in the privacy of your home, but stay off the streets. The biggest obstacle? The beer, wine and spirits industries which would be the biggest losers.
There’s a whole lot of legislating morality which the government spends a whole lot of money doing. 1) We can’t afford it. 2) Driving activity underground only creates funding for criminal enterprises. 3) It’s none of the government’s business what I do in the privacy of my own home or with my money so long as I’m not causing anyone else injury with my actions.
Regarding the legalization of prostitution: slavery was once legal in this country too. It was still human exploitation. Prostitution is wrong. Period.
Legalize sex workers and drug usage. The former will be less at risk for violence. The latter will end turf wars and not add to the prison population. Every one in prison for marijuana use or trafficking should be freed so we can have cells for real criminals. People of any age who want to use alcohol or drugs will get them whether they are legal or illegal. What we’re doing now is a failure. Why not try something different?