PATRIOT Act warrant misused in FL sex sting

Sneak-and-Peek Warrant for Hidden Cameras at Florida Massage Parlors Faces Scrutiny - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Elizabeth Nolan Brown:

March 4, 2019 - "A central component of the recent investigation into Chinese massage-parlor sex was the secret installation of hidden cameras at the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter, Florida. Now defense attorneys are challenging the legality of this move. Permission for such surveillance stems from a provision of the PATRIOT Act that was passed with promises only to use the power against possible terrorists....

"In this case, police secretly filmed massage rooms in January 2019.... Caught on camera getting a massage and maybe more were New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and dozens of other men, who now face misdemeanor charges for allegedly soliciting prostitution. Workers and managers at the businesses were also arrested and stand accused of prostitution and racketeering.

"Police were able to secretly install the surveillance cameras thanks to a sneak-and-peek warrant. Such warrants were sold after 9/11 as a way to stop terrorism, but in practice they've mainly been used in investigations of drug crimes.

"Of the more than 11,000 such warrants issued in 2013, for instance, only 50 were related to terrorism; 9,401 were parts of drug investigations. In 2011, 5,093 of 6,775 requests for sneak-and-peek warrants were related to drug cases; just 31 were related to terrorism.....

"Now they're being used to stop prostitution under the guise of busting up international slavery rings.... [J]ust as local cops and federal authorities have used anti-terrorism tools to prosecute potheads, they've been keen on attacking all prostitution (a misdemeanor crime under local laws throughout most of the U.S.) as 'human trafficking,' a federal crime. Police in Palm Beach and Jupiter counties have been trotting out that claim this time too, although no sex trafficking or forced labor charges have been filed.

"As with so much of this case, that claim looks strange in light of the fact that the authorities spent months visiting and watching these businesses but not rescuing the women that they now say they suspect are trafficking victims....

"Several folks quoted by the Sun-Sentinel suggest that this case represents an unprecedented use of sneak-and-peek warrants — but that's not true even within Palm Beach County. As the same paper noted in 2014, Palm Beach authorities ran a similar massage-parlor sting operation back in 2007. They used a sneak-and-peek warrant to install cameras and catch sex acts on video back then, too. In that case, one massage parlor worker was arrested for prostitution and 25 men were arrested for solicitation of prostitution."

Read more: http://reason.com/blog/2019/03/04/sneak-and-peek-warrant-for-florida-sting
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Did Robert Kraft even commit a crime?

In A Truly Libertarian World, Robert Kraft Buying Sex Wouldn't Be A Crime - Jocelyn Glabach, Federalist Society:

February 25, 2019 - "Friday morning, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft found himself caught up in a prostitution sting spearheaded by Florida’s Jupiter Police Department.

"The details are still unfolding as to whether this was a consensual arrangement between two adults, or something more insidious involving sex trafficking. If it was the latter, one must wonder whether Kraft knew what he was getting into. But if this was run-of-the-mill prostitution, and he wanted to enter into relations with another consenting adult, and she with him, that should be none of our business.

"One of the pillars of libertarianism is self-ownership –– the idea that we have full autonomy over what we do with our bodies. Some gray area exists that divides the ideology on abortion, but sex is pretty standard: we are free to have sex with who we want, provided they are consenting and of reasonable age, and it should be none of the government’s business. So why would sex become the government’s business when money becomes a factor?

"One argument is that prostitution exploits women and elevates sex traffickers, so we ban it to [prevent] prostitution ... authorities ban X [and] supply goes down..... But what is the natural response?... X increases in value, a black market forms, cartels rise to power, organized crime grows, and the frequency of crime increases.... Prostitution, like marijuana, is not absolved from the laws of the market because of its implied immorality.

"[T]he solutions touted by the state of Florida ... won’t change demand in the slightest.... Just because the state wants people to behave in a certain way doesn’t mean they will. Wouldn’t it make more sense to attempt to get this industry out of the dark?

"All of this said, is sex trafficking the same as prostitution? Absolutely not. Sex trafficking deprives a victim of her autonomy and makes her a slave to her keeper. It is the antithesis of a voluntary contract, and sex traffickers should feel the full extent of the law over forcing their victims into compromising situations....

"Whether or not Kraft was a willing participant in voluntary prostitution or a knowing party in a sex trafficking ring is still unclear, but what is clear is that what consenting adults do with their bodies should not only be none of our business, and stand apart from the cancerous organized crime that is sex trafficking."

Read more: https://thefederalist.com/2019/02/25/in-a-truly-libertarian-world-robert-kraft-buying-sex-wouldnt-be-a-crime/
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US Libertarians call for decriminalizing prostitution

Libertarian Party Adopts New Sex Work Plank, Becomes Only Notable U.S. Party to Endorse Prostitution Decriminalization - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Elizabeth Nolan Brown:

July 2, 2018 - "The Libertarian Party officially 'supports the decriminalization of prostitution,' according to a new plank in the party's political platform. This makes the L.P. the only notable U.S. political party to stand unequivocally for sex-worker rights and in opposition to cops caging people for consensual sex.

"'We assert the right of consenting adults to provide sexual services to clients for compensation, and the right of clients to purchase sexual services from consenting sex workers,' reads the new language, adopted ... at the Libertarian National Convention in New Orleans.... After some debate Monday morning, delegates adopted the decriminalization amendment as Plank 2.8 of the party's platform. The previous platform made no mention of sex work or prostitution. The language of the new amendment was drafted by sex workers, and L.P. delegates rejected a similar amendment in order to approve the sex-worker-penned version.

"The L.P.'s move comes the same week America's other most popular third party, the Greens, explicitly rejected a platform that protects sex worker rights.... In voting that ended July 1, Green Party delegates rejected a proposed platform amendment that would add the decriminalization to the party's official platform.....

"The Democratic platform makes no mention of prostitution or sex work, though it does contain at least a dozen references to sexual orientation. The Republican platform also avoids commentary on prostitution, though it does claim that 'Pornography, with its harmful effects, especially on children, has become a public health crisis that is destroying the lives of millions.'"

Read more: https://reason.com/blog/2018/07/02/libertarians-call-for-sex-work-decrim
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Amnesty International: decriminalize sex trade

Amnesty approves policy to decriminalise sex trade | World news | The Guardian - Jessica Elgot:

August 11, 2015 - "Amnesty International has approved a policy to endorse the decriminalisation of the sex trade.

"At its decision-making forum in Dublin, the human rights group approved the resolution to recommend 'full decriminalisation of all aspects of consensual sex work'.

"It argued that its research suggested decriminalisation was the best way to defend the rights of sex workers, rejecting complaints by women’s groups who said it was tantamount to advocating the legalisation of pimping and brothel-owning.

"'We recognise that this critical human rights issue is hugely complex and that is why we have addressed this issue from the perspective of international human rights standards,' said Salil Shetty, the secretary general of Amnesty International. 'We also consulted with our global movement to take on board different views from around the world.'

"Amnesty’s decision is important because the organisation will use its weight to lobby governments to accept its point of view.

"Many former sex workers have criticised the decision.... However Amnesty’s decision has also been welcomed by some sex industry figures. 'I am thrilled,' said Laura Lee, an Irish sex worker and activist. 'It is the best way forward to take sex work out of the Dark Ages and give us the rights and protection we deserve.'

Morgane Merteuil, a former sex worker and general secretary of the French sex workers’ trade union Strass, told Newsweek: 'We support this because from experience we know that criminalisation harms sex workers, their human rights and their capacity to self-organise and fight against abusers.

"'The crimes committed against sex workers are already crimes. But the law against pimping also criminalises individuals who come into contact with prostitutes. It makes it harder for sex workers to build relationships, it means they can’t tell people what they do, they can’t share their money and they can’t get access to healthcare.'"

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/11/amnesty-approves-policy-to-decriminalise-sex-trade
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Rapes, STDs drop when prostitution legal in RI

When Rhode Island accidentally legalized prostitution, rape decreased sharply - Max Ehrenfreud, Wonkblog, Washington Post:

July 17, 2014 - "For decades, few people noticed that legislators in Providence had deleted crucial language from Rhode Island state law in 1980. It wasn't until a 2003 court case that police, to their chagrin, discovered they couldn't prevent prostitutes and their customers from engaging in commercial exchange.

"For the next six years until legislators corrected their error, the oldest profession was not a crime in Rhode Island – and public health and public safety substantially improved as a result, according to a new working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research. The statewide incidence of gonorrhea among women declined by 39 percent, and the number of rapes reported to police in the state declined by 31 percent, according to the paper.

"The study by Baylor University's Scott Cunningham and Manisha Shah of the University of California, Los Angeles ... appears to be the first quantitative evidence that removing criminal penalties for prostitutes can reduce violence against women and curtail sexually transmitted infections in society generally – and dramatically so....

"Shah and Cunningham ... found that more women entered prostitution, particularly white and Asian women, and that the price of their services fell. In addition to the lower rate of gonorrhea infections among women, Shah and Cunningham estimated that decriminalizing prostitution prevented 824 rapes that would have been otherwise reported to police – and presumably many more that otherwise would not have been reported in any case.

"The decline in the number of rapes was so large that Cunningham and Shah felt obliged to examine their data with three separate statistical methods, but the effect persisted. The authors were eventually persuaded that their result was not a fluke, and that imposing criminal sanctions on prostitutes and their clients might cause violence against women. 'The human costs are so big, if this is in fact a very real causal effect,' Cunningham said. 'I think we have convinced ourselves that we have done everything we can do rule out alternative explanations.'"

Read more:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/07/17/when-rhode-island-accidentally-legalized-prostitution-rape-and-stis-decreased-sharply/

Supreme Court strikes down Canada's prostitution laws

Supreme Court strikes down Canada's prostitution laws - Politics - CBC News:

December 20, 2013 - "The Supreme Court of Canada has struck down the country's anti-prostitution laws in a unanimous decision, and given Parliament one year to come up with new legislation — should it choose to do so.

"In striking down laws prohibiting brothels, living on the avails of prostitution and communicating in public with clients, the top court ruled Friday that the laws were over-broad and 'grossly disproportionate.'

"'Parliament has the power to regulate against nuisances, but not at the cost of the health, safety and lives of prostitutes," wrote Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin in the 9-0 decision that noted 'it is not a crime in Canada to sell sex for money....

"'I would therefore make a suspended declaration of invalidity, returning the question of how to deal with prostitution to Parliament.'

"That means the provisions stay in the Criminal Code for the next year while the government decides what to do."

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/supreme-court-strikes-down-canada-s-prostitution-laws-1.2471572
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Ontario Court of Appeal legalizes brothels

Prostitution legalized: Ontario Court of Appeal greenlights brothels | News | National Post:

March 26, 2012 - "The Court of Appeal for Ontario has swept aside some of the country’s anti-prostitution laws saying they place unconstitutional restrictions on prostitutes’ ability to protect themselves.

"The landmark decision means sex workers will be able to hire drivers, bodyguards and support staff and work indoors in organized brothels or 'bawdy houses,' while 'exploitation' by pimps remains illegal.

"However, openly soliciting customers on the street remains prohibited with the judges deeming that 'a reasonable limit on the right to freedom of expression.'

"The province’s highest court suspended the immediate implementation of striking the bawdy house law for a year to allow the government an opportunity to amend the Criminal Code."

Read more: http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/03/26/ontario-court-of-appeal-greenlights-brothels-sweeps-aside-many-of-canadas-anti-prostitution-laws/
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