How long before prostitution is legalized?

Great Debates
1

So, while listening to ‘All Things Considered’ a few days ago I stumbled upon a report about a small town that was actively promoting itself as a location for strip clubs. The city government realized that some people would regard it as unsavory but they needed the tax money to support city services and this was the means they’d arrived at to close the gap.

And that got me to thinking that there’s a lot of potential tax money left on the table out there. Governments have already established the concept that unsavory practices can be tolerated if it fills the coffers…

Cigarettes are considered ‘bad’ but are a lucrative source of tax revenue.

Alcohol, despite attempts at controlling it (and even an outright ban at one point), remains legal and is a lucrative source of tax revenue.

Gambling, once illegal through most of the land, is now becoming effectively legalized and is becoming a new and important source of tax revenue. Robert Ehrlich, current Governor of Maryland expended a great deal of political capital attempting to bring slot machines to Maryland racetracks this year with the justification of closing a budget gap. It failed…but not by much, and it’ll be back next year.

So how long is it before some enterprising government type realizes the potential gold mine in prostitution? Nevada has legalized prostitution in some regions and derives revenue from it. Mexico has legalized prostitution at its ‘boys town’ areas and derives revenue from it.

At some point I think it’s inevitable that a governor, faced with a balanced budget requirement in his state constitution and an enormous deficit, will discover that it is politically less painful to legalize, regulate and tax prostitution than it is to cut services to some part of his voter base. At that point we begin to hear the trial balloons floated by junior aides ‘on background’.

From here: http://www.albany.edu/sourcebook/1995/pdf/t410.pdf

I see that in 1995 there were 61,000 arrests for prostitution and ‘commercialized vice’ in the United States. I don’t think any of us would think that’s the sum total of all prostitution transactions in the country. Let’s…

Think of that number at 5% of the prostitutes in the USA.
That each ‘service’ performed costs $75.
That each prostitute will service 20 clients per week.
That each act had a 5% sales tax included

That would work out to sales of $1,830,000,000 or sales tax income of $91,500,000.

In addition, the income of the prostitutes will suddenly be taxable income. Say they hit a rate of 10%.

That would work out to personal income tax of $366,000,000 now in the hands of state, local and federal government.

There are governors who would, quite literally, kill for an extra 10 million dollars in the till.

I’m not even including licensing and inspections fees (God help me) or even the cost savings of not having to police the street for prostitution or the theory that it would lead to increased economic activity beyond the prostitution.

I don’t want this to be a debate about the legalization of prostitution and the pros and cons.

I’d really like to debate whether this will occur to our elected leaders as a source of income and, if so, how long will it take before we start to see prostitution as just another unsavory but good for the tax coffers habit of some people.

Fifty years? 20? Five?

2

The other things you’ve noted as being “unsavory,” like cigarettes, alcohol, or gambling, are not considered immoral by many, perhaps most, Americans.

I’m going to look at Catholics for a bit. Catholicism has a problem with alcoholism and probably gambling addiction (though I don’t think I’ve ever encountered an actual church teaching on same), but has no problem with alcohol, smoking, and gambling in and of themselves.

Prostitution, though, is a whole 'nother ballgame. The actual act of prostitution is considered immoral by the RCC, not just if the practice turns into a harmful habit.

(I’m using Catholics as an example because there are so many of us in the US.)

So, my guess is more than 50 years. Maybe never.

Julie

3

If I’m not mistaken it’s legalized in Sweden, and they pay taxes. I think there was a recent case in the news where a prostitute got a deduction for rent paid. In Norway it’s legal to sell, but illegal to buy :rolleyes: , but it’s not taxed.

I can’t see this happening in America anytime soon, but why not?Prostitution will always be available, so why not tax it and reroute some of the money from the “bad acts” into good things like public schools or health care. Just a thought …

4

it’s legal in The Netherlands.
they’re thinking 'bout it in Belgium.

America, land of the free?
:stuck_out_tongue:
oh, and Alien, I can see where the norwegian government is coming from

5

It’s an interesting idea, that money plays the most important factor in legalization.

Note that gambling didn’t become legal in most cases as a result of careful analysis of the pros and cons. Certain cities just decided they couldn’t pass up all that revenue! If not for the profits to be made by taxing gambling, there would never even have been a discussion about it becomming legal. All this despite the obvious social benefits of the government running the gambling instead of organized crime profiting from it.

I think it will take a mighty recession as well as some free thinking politicians to get certain areas to start legalizing prostitution. Once it’s successful somewhere, others will pick up on it.

As far as when this will happen? I have no idea.

6

My first answer is that if it doesn’t happen tomorrow, that’s too long a time.:slight_smile:

I don’t see it happening on a statewide basis anywhere except maybe Alaska (because the population is very small and tends to be on the libertarian side). There are just too many “moralists” in any given state. Even Nevada has it legalized only in certain counties. Perhaps we may see this in other states, ie on a county by county basis, at some point but even then it’s hard to imagine. Seems like the option would be most viable in rural, western states, but then those states tend to have the least problems with budget overruns, IIRC.

7

Don’t hold your breath, John Mace; while libertarianism may be more popular here relative to the rest of the country, right-wing Christians are firmly in control of the state house and governor’s mansion. Though if Republican Governor nee Senator Frank Murkowski keeps raising taxes, that may change.

8

Fear: Yeah, my comment was more relatively speaking than anything else. But I’ll certainly defer to the judgement of a native.

9

Note that, in some places in the US, at least one form of prostitution is decriminalized, at least de facto if not de jure. Escort services exist in many cities – they’re even listed in the phone book, and there are web sites and Usenet groups devoted to them.

Of course, these services aren’t explicitly sex-for-money, but many escorts will provide sex for “tips”. This practice occurs in many cities, yet one almost never hears of these services being hit by law enforcement; one gets the sense that the cops don’t consider it worth the effort.

10

I agree that we will probably never see prostitution legalized across an entire state. It will probably resemble casino locations. Certain communities will allow it. Right now, in most areas it’s illegal to open a casino. However, no matter where you are it’s probably not too far of a drive to get to an indian reservation or a floating casino.

11

It is legal to sell sex (which explains why the prostitute could start a business doing just this), but it is illegal to buy it. This coming from the swedish goverment attempts to protect prostitutes and to get to the real problem in their eyes, the clients.

/Bom

12

I too think it will be a long time, if ever before prostitution is legalized in the U.S. Our society seems to have an ingrained puritanical viewpoint, or at least enough people do who are willing to be loud and vote to prevent it from happening in any more than a few discreet locales.

To me legalized prostitution makes sense from the standpoint of regulation and health/safety practices, but then so does a needle exchange program.

13

Don’t you (gasp) have a needle exchange program? :eek:
No free needles to addicts, no free condoms to prostitutes? No freebies at all?

Ugh, what a sad place to do bad things :wink:

14

Why not just get rid of the damned addicts? Then you won’t need a needle exchange.

15

Sadly, there are always more to fill the void.

16

Until there’s a push for it, it isn’t going to happen. I mean, sure, a lot of people will say they don’t have a problem with it. But how many pro-prostitution pamplets have you been handing out at the streetcorner?

How many letters to your congressman regarding this issue have you sent?

How many bake sales have you held to raise money for the Legalize Prostitution Campaign?

How many times have you lit yourself on fire outside of the county courthouse to protest this Orwellian denial of liberty?

Ahem. My point is, the government is not going to just decide “Hey, you know, I bet a lot of people think prostitution should be legal. Let’s take the laws off the books.” You have to work for it, and even then it’s not a sure thing.

That said, I think the majority of people in America are happy with the law as is. Ask around. You wouln’t believe the looks you get.

17

It’s legal in Australia. One of Melbourne’s premier brothels The Daily Planet is listed on the Stock Exchange. Anyone who bought into the issue would now have a 96% profit.

18

Well, would the tax revenue generated by legalizing it out weigh the fines paid by the Johns?

19

That’s what the Feds have been trying to do, but unfortunately it hasn’t worked yet… maybe if we give it another 30 years?

20

Funny how stereotypes don’t add up. Spain and Italy are two of the most liberal European countries in this regard and yet, going by stereotypes, are supposed to be two of the most religious. They are also two of the countries with the lowest birth rates.

The fact is Americans are uptight about morals and I don’t think it can just be blamed on a particular religion. Just like (as has been repeated many times) one can be a Muslim and not a zealot, one can also be a Christian and yet not a zealot. In Europe it is possible.