The victimless crime.

Jun 2 00:10 UTC 1995

        Recently I read that prostitution is LEGAL in the state of
   Nevada. Should prostitution be a crime?

        I always thought that every crime had a victim;
   but does prostitution have one?

                Please share you thoughs freely.

response 2 of 10:

Jun 2 13:45 UTC 1995

Hey, a lot of wives fit that description.  Maybe we should haul
them into the jails too.
.

response 4 of 10:

Jun 2 16:36 UTC 1995

  My understanding is that in Nevada, where prostitution is legal but
regulated, the traditional abusive pimp-prostitute relationship gives
way to a house of prostitutes run as a business.  I'd guess that
employees would be quite well paid; I've heard 6-figure incomes are
common for marketable strippers around here, which is probably our
most similar legal "sex" industry.
 
  Re #1, if you think the high occupational hazard of drug addiction
is a reason to ban prostitution or that prostitutes are victimized,
perhaps we should also ban the practice of medecine, to prevent
doctors from being victimized!  I know there's slimey encouragement
for people to get into drugs, but unless people are literally forced
into doing drugs, that's their choice.
 
  In this country, the statement "every crime needs to have a victim"
doesn't really hold up, unless you consider the criminals to be
victimizing themselves whenever they break the law (in fact, I read
that an inmate just sued himself for that very reason).  Trespassing
or blowing through a red light when nobody's around hurts nobody, but
it's still a crime.

response 6 of 10:

Jun 3 06:13 UTC 1995

Trespassing is a violation of somebody's property rights; it has a well
defined victim, although the extent to which the victim suffers may be
rather minor.  Actions which generally threaten public safety are a bit
trickier to reconcile, but traffic violations certainly have at least the
potential to expose nonconsenting victims to risk.

"The woman herself is the victim?"  Please.  So why is the victim taken
off to jail?

response 8 of 10:

Jun 4 14:20 UTC 1995

  Traffic laws say "don't blow through a stop sign," they don't say
"don't blow through a stop sign when it could expose non-consenting
victims to risk."  Okay, another example...you find some marijuana
growing in your yard, so you harvest it to dry.  That's a crime.  If
you harvest more than an ounce, it's a major crime.  Who's the victim?
The plant?  No victim needed, just potential victims...same with
driving through stop signs in the desert.

response 10 of 10:

Jun 11 16:11 UTC 1995

  Personally I view drug possession as an essentially victimless crime.
But I think the way society views it is that drug dealers hook invertibrate
people against their will, so those dealers are victimizing their customers.
Also, a lot of crime crops up surrounding the illegal drug industry, simply
because it's illegal; drug gangs have turf wars, and addicts commit petty
crimes to feed their artificially-high-priced habit.
 
  And since drug possession is kind of equated to drug usage (which is also
generally a victimless crime), the use of drugs could endanger people, if the
drug makes a person lose self control.  Kind of like drinking and driving;
the drinker probably won't kill anyone, but the odds of it go way up.  Plus
there's a medical cost to society for drug usage...we're victimized by having
to pay more for a drug user's medical care.
 
  But all those "potential victims" are kind of stretching it...I still think
there's no pre-req for laws that they need to have victims, or even potential
victims.