Canada's Anti-Prostitution Laws Struck Down

qayak

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qayak
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The challenge was brought by dominatrix Terri-Jean Bedford and two other sex-trade workers who said the provisions forced them from the safety of their homes to face violence on the streets.
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http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/100928/national/bawdy_law_challenge

The Ontario Superior Court ruled that laws against keeping a common bawdy house, communicating for the purposes of prostitution and living on the avails of the trade "are not in accord with the principles of fundamental justice."


"These laws, individually and together, force prostitutes to choose between their liberty interest and their right to security of the person as protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms," Justice Susan Himel wrote her in decision.
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About bloody time. Supreme Court here we come. With luck, the Harper government will be gone before Parliament has to craft a response.
 
D'rok said:
About bloody time. Supreme Court here we come. With luck, the Harper government will be gone before Parliament has to craft a response.
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Agreed.

Why is it that in a modern society religious people still think they speak for everyone?

From the article:
The Christian Legal Fellowship, which was granted intervenor status, argued the provisions reflect society's views that prostitution "offends the conscience of ordinary Canadians."
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Whaaa... Is this really happening?!?

I was not expecting that. Especially with Harper still in charge. This is awesome surprise news, and hopefully it won't be insta-repealed by the forces of old and evil.

Can we do the same with anti-pot laws next? Pretty please, with sugar on top?
 
qayak said:
Why is it that in a modern society religious people still think they speak for everyone?

From the article:
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Rule of advocacy: always frame your extremist moral argument as if it's self-evidently a reflection of the larger community standard.

Religionists have only this type of rhetoric to fall back on. All the actual harm data is against them.
 
I was kinda surprised by this, since a quick look at the back pages of many local Canadian newspapers will show that prostitution is hardly prosecuted. But
Prostitution was not illegal in Canada, but the Ontario Superior Court struck down three provisions that criminalized most aspects of prostitution.
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It's illegal to be a pimp, it's illegal to run a brothel, and it's illegal to offer money/sex for sex/money. So if a man walks up to a woman and offers her money for sex, he has committed a crime and can be arrested if a cop hears him.

I'm sure they'll be drafting laws immediately. Even if they don't re-criminalize it, they'll certainly want to require licenses for brothels.
 
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In other news, New US demographics indicate a northerly migration of Horny Old Men.
 
Madalch said:
It's illegal to be a pimp . . .
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The label pimp is indescriminantly applied. It can mean the boyfriend of a prostitute who lives in a house where she paid the rent, or bought the groceries.

. . . it's illegal to run a brothel . . .
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Of course. We want them on the street where they can be abused and murdered.

. . . and it's illegal to offer money/sex for sex/money.
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And who says Canada isn't against free speech?

So if a man walks up to a woman and offers her money for sex, he has committed a crime and can be arrested if a cop hears him.
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Or if an undercover cop asks her "How much?" and she tells him, she can be arrested.

Even if they don't re-criminalize it, they'll certainly want to require licenses for brothels.
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Well, that would drag this useless government out of the stone age.
 
D'rok said:
Can't they just go to Nevada instead?
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Couple of problems. It is not legal in all of Nevada. Specifically it is illegal in Clark County (where Las Vegas is and 2/3 of the state population resides)

Because it is unique and available only where relatively remote, it is quite expensive where legal. Legalization in the entire country of Canada will likely make it more affordable in in much less remote areas.

I can totally see, if this passes, US residents in neighboring cities taking day trips across the border for legal prostitution.
 
So prostitution was not technically illegal, just doing it in your own home (among other things.)
 
cwalner said:
Couple of problems. It is not legal in all of Nevada. Specifically it is illegal in Clark County (where Las Vegas is and 2/3 of the state population resides)

Because it is unique and available only where relatively remote, it is quite expensive where legal. Legalization in the entire country of Canada will likely make it more affordable in in much less remote areas.

I can totally see, if this passes, US residents in neighboring cities taking day trips across the border for legal prostitution.
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Maybe we could convert Windsor, ON into the North American Amsterdam? Gotta replace the auto industry with something.
 
Segnosaur said:
Not sure exactly what papers you look in, but there are regular 'sweeps' by the police here in Ottawa.
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I was thinking of Vue and See in Edmonton- weekly entertainment papers focusing on local politics, theatre, music, and local events. They always had nearly an entire page dedicated to ads for "escorts". I only vaguely remember once reading about cops checking out the ads, and the question of whether or not they were breaking the law.
 
D'rok said:
Maybe we could convert Windsor, ON into the North American Amsterdam? Gotta replace the auto industry with something.
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Or better yet, combine the two. Have dealearships include a free 1-hour session in the back seat of any new car purchase. :eye-poppi
 
Any law against selling what you can give away for free is going to end up with some fundamental problems.
 
Canada's Anti-Prostitution Laws Struck Down
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WooHoo! Coke and Whores for EVERYBODY!!!!!




Well, the whores, at least.



Madalch said:
I was thinking of Vue and See in Edmonton- weekly entertainment papers focusing on local politics, theatre, music, and local events. They always had nearly an entire page dedicated to ads for "escorts". I only vaguely remember once reading about cops checking out the ads, and the question of whether or not they were breaking the law.
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That's the thing - the communicating for the purposes of prostitution was only illegal if done in public. So ads, where you then call up the people involved, were technically not illegal, as the communication wasn't public, unlike driving asking "How much?"
 
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