San Francisco Rejects Decriminalization of Prostitution

On election day San Francisco voters had the opportunity to cast a blow (no pun intended – really) for some commonsense. If passed, Proposition K would have effectively decriminalized prostitution in the city. To my astonishment, Prop K failed, by a rather large margin. Some 60% of San Franciscans voted against decriminalization. I have posted before on the subject of legalizing or decriminalizing prostution, and will not rehearse all of the arguments again in this post. Suffice it to say, I think that, on the main, prosections of prostution related crimes – especially those involving escort services – are a tremendous waste of governmental resources, a diversion from more pressing law enforcement concerns, and trample on zones of privacy that are, in my view, none of the government’s business. The San Francisco result was especially disappointing given the city’s widely acknowledged liberal slant. If a decriminalization measure failed by such a wide margin there, its hard to imagine where one might pass. I urge the political proponents of such measure to keep trying, though. They’re fighting the good fight. In the meantime, I’ll continue to criticize politically misguided prosecutions wherever they occur.

Four Years for “Clyde”

Edward Anderton, the male half of Philadelphia’s “Bonnie & Clyde” identity thieves, was sentenced yesterday to four years in federal prison for his part in the crime spree in which he participated with his former girlfriend, Jocelyn Kirsch. The Daily News has the story here. Kirsch was previously sentenced to 5 years, drawing the extra year due to her prior record, and her involvement in criminal activity while she was awaiting sentencing on the “Bonnie & Clyde” crimes. All in all it seems to me that the sentences are probably fair, if perhaps a bit on the long side.

Feds Won’t Charge Spitzer

It has been reported that federal prosecutors will not bring any charges against former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer arising out of his involvement with a Manhattan escort service. Sensible decision, it seems to me. As I have written previosuly in this space, Spitzer is a jerk and a hypocrite, but his conduct, in my view, does not warrant prosecution. Of course there remains the issue of why, if Spitzer gets a walk, the folks who operate the escort services face prosecution. Seems to me that the feds should empoy their resources chasing real criminals. Like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens.