In a now fifth case decided by a different Judge, Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice has had another of her "Flush The Johns" cases dismissed for lack of evidenceNassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice has had another of her "Flush The Johns" cases dismissed for lack of evidence.
Last October, right before the election (of course) Rice used county money to run one of the dumbest sting operations in her history of dumb cases. It was called 'Flush the Johns". All it has done so far is flush good tax money down the toilet. Wasting literally hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on what was basically a publicity stunt, Rice ran a sting by having police women pose as prostitutes on Craigslist and Backpage.com so that they could lure men into hotel rooms and arrest them. She then put their names and pictures into Newsday (which also should be ashamed of itself) and ruined marriages, professional careers and reputations.
Last week Judge Sharon Gianelli ( a fellow Democrat) dismissed two more cases and then there was one in November that went down the tubes. Now Judge Susan Kluewer (another fellow Democrat) dismissed this case for lack of evidence after a man was charged after entering a hotel room with his buddy (who claimed he had to stop and drop something off to the person in the room). The man neither called the alleged prostitute, nor did he negotiate a fee or pay said fee. In other words the case was the only thing in the room that sucked!! (Sorry I couldn't resist). The man's wife instituted divorce proceedings and the case has destroyed him. There was no probably cause to arrest this man, despite what Rice's overpaid PR guy says. Salvatore Marinello said his client is going to sue Rice and the Nassau County Police for False Arrest and Malicious Prosecution. Even if he loses it is going to tack more tax money onto this losing proposition to defend the county...
Rice just won re-election. Nevertheless she should step down. She and her crew of carpetbagging attorneys and nepotistic appointees have done nothing to protect Nassau and worse yet, she has wasted our dollars, inflated her budget all so she can run for higher office. Kathleen Rice is a disgrace. Shame on her, and Shame on Nassau Voters who supported her re-election.
Related Post: Flush Nassau DA Kathleen Rice: Her Flush The Johns Sting Goes Down the Drain
Showing posts with label Prostitution. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Prostitution. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
One of the Things I Hate: Using Hate Crime Statutes to Punish Non-Hate Crimes
"During the debate on the NY Hate Crime bill, I was against the cause. It isn't that I do not think that there is something inherently wrong with a person who hurts another out of hate or prejudice, it is that : 1. I do not like to punish people for their thoughts, and 2. I know lawyers well enough to know that they cannot stand to see a statute NOT get abused.
As I predicted now comes my friend Tom Spota (DA of Suffolk County and I am not being sarcastic I've known Tom since his days as an assistant district attorney in the 70's and I really do like him even if I don't always agree with him)who seems hell bent on abusing the statute to get a greater sentence for a person who has no hate (as we define the term generally) for the person they have allegedly hurt.
Lisa Ferkovich aka the "Sweetheart Scammer" basically charms old men out of their pensions. If true, she is despicable. She evidently according to Spota picks old men b/c they are easier to scam. Hence because she targets a particular segment of society, she must be involved in hating that segment and is open to an enhanced sentence.
A close look at Article 485 of the NYS Penal Law shows that while Spota may be right about how he CAN use the law, it is far from how the law was meant to be used. The Hate Crime Statute begins with a legislative finding (I wish more laws did this) That finding is part of the law (as opposed to just a legislative history. In part it reads:
"The legislature finds and determines as follows: criminal acts
involving violence, intimidation and destruction of property based upon
bias and prejudice have become more prevalent in New York state in
recent years. The intolerable truth is that in these crimes, commonly
and justly referred to as "hate crimes", victims are intentionally
selected, in whole or in part, because of their race, color, national
origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability
or sexual orientation. Hate crimes do more than threaten the safety and
welfare of all citizens. They inflict on victims incalculable physical
and emotional damage and tear at the very fabric of free society. Crimes
motivated by invidious hatred toward particular groups not only harm
individual victims but send a powerful message of intolerance and
discrimination to all members of the group to which the victim belongs."
Reading the first sentence one gets the idea that the legislature was trying to limit the use of the statute to our understanding of hate. Prejudice and Bias. So far so good. The sentence that begins "Crimes motivated by invidious hatred toward particular groups..." also fits the definition of a hate crime however in between, there is the line "... victims are intentionally selected, in whole or in part, because of their race, color, national
origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation."
That segment if read as part of the entire document seems to be consistent with the idea that one must have an invidious hatred in targeting a group however that is not how Spota wants to use the law. He wants to say that the targeting in and of itself is enough to trigger the enhancement. In other words he perverts the statute by suggesting that the targeting vitiates the need to prove "actual hate". The sad thing is that some courts (mostly in Queens County) see it the same way. I humbly think that if this is how the law is going to be used, then the whole thing needs to be thrown out.
Hate crimes are hard enough to define now. Sure there are easy ones, the KKK attacks a black man and his family for instance. Pretty easy to follow. Less so in a bar fight where someone calls some one a cracker or a "N" word in the middle of the fight. Heat of the moment or invidious hatred toward another group?
Assuming that the "reason" someone commits and act is a valid use of a sentencing enhancement, shouldn't that reason be clear? Does someone hate another group because he or she uses inappropriate epitaphs in the heat of the moment?
In the case of Ms. Ferkovich, does she hate old people or old men just because her scam is in part to target them? I do not think so. I think she does target old men because she is not going to succeed in targeting younger men (Her picture is not flattering) and they may not find her compliments as flattering or they may see through her or who knows maybe they do not want to have her as a companion. I do not see this as a dislike of older men. I see this as part of the crime itself, but it is a targeting. How it differs from her targeting men in general is unclear.
Put a different way, does a prostitute commit a hate crime because she targets johns??
IF the article is correct and complete, there appears to be no hate. If Spota is right then there needn't be any. If the law's general use is to be based not on hate but on targeting then it is a stupid unnecessary law. Every crime has a target. If he wants tougher sentencing he ought to lobby the legislature to get it. Abusing the hate crime law is wrong. The problem is, if she is guilty it is hard to find any compassion for this woman. That doesn't mean we should pervert our laws in order to get her for more time.
Funny.., I think Spota is over 60 now...
Let me know how you feel about the Hate Crimes Statute and this use of it in the comments below.
As I predicted now comes my friend Tom Spota (DA of Suffolk County and I am not being sarcastic I've known Tom since his days as an assistant district attorney in the 70's and I really do like him even if I don't always agree with him)who seems hell bent on abusing the statute to get a greater sentence for a person who has no hate (as we define the term generally) for the person they have allegedly hurt.
Lisa Ferkovich aka the "Sweetheart Scammer" basically charms old men out of their pensions. If true, she is despicable. She evidently according to Spota picks old men b/c they are easier to scam. Hence because she targets a particular segment of society, she must be involved in hating that segment and is open to an enhanced sentence.
A close look at Article 485 of the NYS Penal Law shows that while Spota may be right about how he CAN use the law, it is far from how the law was meant to be used. The Hate Crime Statute begins with a legislative finding (I wish more laws did this) That finding is part of the law (as opposed to just a legislative history. In part it reads:
"The legislature finds and determines as follows: criminal acts
involving violence, intimidation and destruction of property based upon
bias and prejudice have become more prevalent in New York state in
recent years. The intolerable truth is that in these crimes, commonly
and justly referred to as "hate crimes", victims are intentionally
selected, in whole or in part, because of their race, color, national
origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability
or sexual orientation. Hate crimes do more than threaten the safety and
welfare of all citizens. They inflict on victims incalculable physical
and emotional damage and tear at the very fabric of free society. Crimes
motivated by invidious hatred toward particular groups not only harm
individual victims but send a powerful message of intolerance and
discrimination to all members of the group to which the victim belongs."
Reading the first sentence one gets the idea that the legislature was trying to limit the use of the statute to our understanding of hate. Prejudice and Bias. So far so good. The sentence that begins "Crimes motivated by invidious hatred toward particular groups..." also fits the definition of a hate crime however in between, there is the line "... victims are intentionally selected, in whole or in part, because of their race, color, national
origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation."
That segment if read as part of the entire document seems to be consistent with the idea that one must have an invidious hatred in targeting a group however that is not how Spota wants to use the law. He wants to say that the targeting in and of itself is enough to trigger the enhancement. In other words he perverts the statute by suggesting that the targeting vitiates the need to prove "actual hate". The sad thing is that some courts (mostly in Queens County) see it the same way. I humbly think that if this is how the law is going to be used, then the whole thing needs to be thrown out.
Hate crimes are hard enough to define now. Sure there are easy ones, the KKK attacks a black man and his family for instance. Pretty easy to follow. Less so in a bar fight where someone calls some one a cracker or a "N" word in the middle of the fight. Heat of the moment or invidious hatred toward another group?
Assuming that the "reason" someone commits and act is a valid use of a sentencing enhancement, shouldn't that reason be clear? Does someone hate another group because he or she uses inappropriate epitaphs in the heat of the moment?
In the case of Ms. Ferkovich, does she hate old people or old men just because her scam is in part to target them? I do not think so. I think she does target old men because she is not going to succeed in targeting younger men (Her picture is not flattering) and they may not find her compliments as flattering or they may see through her or who knows maybe they do not want to have her as a companion. I do not see this as a dislike of older men. I see this as part of the crime itself, but it is a targeting. How it differs from her targeting men in general is unclear.
Put a different way, does a prostitute commit a hate crime because she targets johns??
IF the article is correct and complete, there appears to be no hate. If Spota is right then there needn't be any. If the law's general use is to be based not on hate but on targeting then it is a stupid unnecessary law. Every crime has a target. If he wants tougher sentencing he ought to lobby the legislature to get it. Abusing the hate crime law is wrong. The problem is, if she is guilty it is hard to find any compassion for this woman. That doesn't mean we should pervert our laws in order to get her for more time.
Funny.., I think Spota is over 60 now...
Let me know how you feel about the Hate Crimes Statute and this use of it in the comments below.
Friday, December 13, 2013
Saturday, July 04, 2009
We Are Not The Land Of The Free Until We Stop The Nanny State Bull Hockey
I don't have the time for a long post today. I love America. I believe in its promise. I get frustrated however when I see that we refuse to trust our people with their own money and their own bodies. There are natural consequences from every act, but legal consequences must not be based on someone Else's subjective test of right and wrong.
My test for right and wrong in a law is simple: Does this law seek to prohibit an act that hurts no one but the doer of the act? If so then it should not be illegal. It is said that "the freedom to move one's arm ends at the tip of the nose on the next guys face." If it doesn't hit him, then his discomfort at the fact that I move my arm is not illegal.
Ok I don't have the time to go into all of it, but look at this story about a federal prosecution of a Doctor who asked two girls to come across state lines to "service" him. Not minors, not Sex Slaves or Human Traffic, 2 adult willing women who wanted to have sex w/ this guy and to get money for their effort.
Then look at this YouTube Video of Rep Barney Frank one of the US Congress' most liberal members and Rep Peter King, one of its most conservative members. They are on the same side of the fight to restore the rights of Americans to spend their money and time the way they want. Only a question about Liberty could get these two on the same side of an issue.
Now do something about this. Let your Senators and Congressmen know that these types of Nanny-State laws are unacceptable. Tell them to stay out of our bedrooms and our pockets. Do it for Freedom, Liberty and the American way. Do it today.
Happy 4th of July.
My test for right and wrong in a law is simple: Does this law seek to prohibit an act that hurts no one but the doer of the act? If so then it should not be illegal. It is said that "the freedom to move one's arm ends at the tip of the nose on the next guys face." If it doesn't hit him, then his discomfort at the fact that I move my arm is not illegal.
Ok I don't have the time to go into all of it, but look at this story about a federal prosecution of a Doctor who asked two girls to come across state lines to "service" him. Not minors, not Sex Slaves or Human Traffic, 2 adult willing women who wanted to have sex w/ this guy and to get money for their effort.
Then look at this YouTube Video of Rep Barney Frank one of the US Congress' most liberal members and Rep Peter King, one of its most conservative members. They are on the same side of the fight to restore the rights of Americans to spend their money and time the way they want. Only a question about Liberty could get these two on the same side of an issue.
Now do something about this. Let your Senators and Congressmen know that these types of Nanny-State laws are unacceptable. Tell them to stay out of our bedrooms and our pockets. Do it for Freedom, Liberty and the American way. Do it today.
Happy 4th of July.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Stupid Cops Are As Big a Threat To Kids as Stranger Pedophiles: Two Cases of Keystone Kops Actions That Will Scar Innocent Children For Life
My first civil rights case, was on behalf of a Haitian kid who had the temerity to cut his grandfather's lawn while being black and wearing dreads... no joke.
Three dolt cops were looking for a car with the license plate WTZ 469 my client had a plate, WZT 469. The car they were looking for, a stolen vehicle, was a white SUV. My client's car was a green coupe.
They watched him as he took a lawn mower out of the back of his car, and started to mow the grass at his Grandfather's house. Then these dyslexic cops jumped out of their car, without identifying themsleves, jumped him onto the cement sidewalk causing contusions to his face, and set off a mini-riot as people were yelling at them for arresting an innocent kid. His mom (the rightful owner of the kid's car) pulled up and tried to tell these idiots that the car belonged to her. No matter. They slammed the kid into the vehicle so hard that his face broke the window!!
Backups had to be called in to quell the disturbance, and while that was going on one of the jerks calls into the precinct only to learn they had the wrong car. Now one would figure that such a finding would result in releasing the kid, apologizing and of course telling the kid to contact the department to pay for the damages to his face...Right.
No the cop on the radio informs the patrolman to switch to another "unmonitored" channel and then they have a conversation about how they better arrest the kid and the mother and charge something or they are going to pay a lot of money out to some "%^&ing Lawyer and the kid". So they arrested the kid and the next day his mom.
Case got dismissed and then I sued. Why? Turns out an amateur radio operator was "monitoring" the band the cops used to come up with the story that they were going to tell. There was an internal investigation... No charges brought. My case settled for just under $25k + free medical and attorney's fees. Kid was happy, and at the time, I was happy. Looking back, I wish we had gone whole hog on it, you know trial and all. On the other hand, it was the early 90's and pre-Louima so who knows maybe it would have gone no where and $25K was all we would have gotten. Maybe the press could have cared less. One thing I know, though is that this wasn't isolated in Nassau County NY and it sure as hell isn't isolated in America.
So you can imagine my frustration and anger at reading these 3 posts by Tony(c) award Winner in News blogging The Agitator's Radley Balko
The Dymond Milburn case (posts one and two) especially has my attention. Here is a 12 year old girl, black doing a chore on her own property in Texas. 4 plainclothes cops who are supposed to be looking for 3 white sex workers attack a little girl thinking she is one of the white sex workers??? I am sorry but WTF!!!!.
They are trying to take her away and she is holding onto a try screaming for help. They are beating her up with flashlights and she is afraid she is about to be abducted! Her father comes out and he is tries to explain to these "officers of the law" that the child is 12, a middle school honor student and not a prostitute.
Ok, tell me why that asshole shouldn't be shot on the spot by the father? Maybe he had identified himself to the family at that point. Ok don't shoot, but still "I don't care if she is twenty two thirty two or forty six..."??? Screw him, all he wanted was to be in control of a situation that he caused to be out of control in the first place. Oh and did I mention they told her they were gonna shoot her puppy which had come to her aid with barking and biting.
Now for those of you who say that this is only one side, I agree and I still do not care...SHE IS 12. Can anyone imagine what would have happened if one of these Keystone Cops had a taser??
Finally it comes to an end, the kid goes to the hospital for her physical injuries which are fairly serious (two black eyes and wounds to the head consistant with being struck with a flashlight), and the Chief of Galveston Police sends her a dozen roses and an apology right? WRONG!!! No, they go to her SCHOOL three weeks later and arrest her in front of everyone else for resisting arrest and injuring AN OFFICER!! Geeez can they be more arrogant?
If you have the stomach for it, take a look at the complaint. Trust me, if you care an iota about what is left of Civil Rights in this country you better have a barf bag available.
Now even if the first part were entirely made up ala Tawanna Brawley, why did they have to arrest her at school??? SHE IS 12. What part of "12" do these dumb bastards not understand. Call her in, go politely to her home. Why embarass the child? Why is the Governor or Texas not sending his best Assistant Deputy Attorney General and his top State investigator down to Galveston with an order to bring him back some badges?? Maybe it is because Dymond is black, and her parents are poor, and so, well, maybe they think it will go away.
Has anybody seen this on the MSM??? Is Katie Couric focusing on this mess? No, but trust me, I have seen the power of Radley Balko's blog following, and there is about to be some hell to pay. I don't have his readership, but I too am pissed and I want some answers. I will be forwarding this post and a letter to my Congressman and asking that we fix 42 USC 1983 to give it the teeth it had before the SCOTUS and friends dismantled it.
As for the child, Dymond Milburn, she has nightmares about being carried off in the night and being raped by cops. Surprise!
BTW Balko got his story from the Houston Press
Then there is the attack on three kids when SWAT came into their bedroom... well maybe I will have more time for that one later. Oh yeah, the police are still shooting innocent animals too.
Three dolt cops were looking for a car with the license plate WTZ 469 my client had a plate, WZT 469. The car they were looking for, a stolen vehicle, was a white SUV. My client's car was a green coupe.
They watched him as he took a lawn mower out of the back of his car, and started to mow the grass at his Grandfather's house. Then these dyslexic cops jumped out of their car, without identifying themsleves, jumped him onto the cement sidewalk causing contusions to his face, and set off a mini-riot as people were yelling at them for arresting an innocent kid. His mom (the rightful owner of the kid's car) pulled up and tried to tell these idiots that the car belonged to her. No matter. They slammed the kid into the vehicle so hard that his face broke the window!!
Backups had to be called in to quell the disturbance, and while that was going on one of the jerks calls into the precinct only to learn they had the wrong car. Now one would figure that such a finding would result in releasing the kid, apologizing and of course telling the kid to contact the department to pay for the damages to his face...Right.
No the cop on the radio informs the patrolman to switch to another "unmonitored" channel and then they have a conversation about how they better arrest the kid and the mother and charge something or they are going to pay a lot of money out to some "%^&ing Lawyer and the kid". So they arrested the kid and the next day his mom.
Case got dismissed and then I sued. Why? Turns out an amateur radio operator was "monitoring" the band the cops used to come up with the story that they were going to tell. There was an internal investigation... No charges brought. My case settled for just under $25k + free medical and attorney's fees. Kid was happy, and at the time, I was happy. Looking back, I wish we had gone whole hog on it, you know trial and all. On the other hand, it was the early 90's and pre-Louima so who knows maybe it would have gone no where and $25K was all we would have gotten. Maybe the press could have cared less. One thing I know, though is that this wasn't isolated in Nassau County NY and it sure as hell isn't isolated in America.
So you can imagine my frustration and anger at reading these 3 posts by Tony(c) award Winner in News blogging The Agitator's Radley Balko
The Dymond Milburn case (posts one and two) especially has my attention. Here is a 12 year old girl, black doing a chore on her own property in Texas. 4 plainclothes cops who are supposed to be looking for 3 white sex workers attack a little girl thinking she is one of the white sex workers??? I am sorry but WTF!!!!.
They are trying to take her away and she is holding onto a try screaming for help. They are beating her up with flashlights and she is afraid she is about to be abducted! Her father comes out and he is tries to explain to these "officers of the law" that the child is 12, a middle school honor student and not a prostitute.
His protests are met with: "I don't care if she is twenty-two, thirty-two or forty-six, tell her to calm down."
Ok, tell me why that asshole shouldn't be shot on the spot by the father? Maybe he had identified himself to the family at that point. Ok don't shoot, but still "I don't care if she is twenty two thirty two or forty six..."??? Screw him, all he wanted was to be in control of a situation that he caused to be out of control in the first place. Oh and did I mention they told her they were gonna shoot her puppy which had come to her aid with barking and biting.
Now for those of you who say that this is only one side, I agree and I still do not care...SHE IS 12. Can anyone imagine what would have happened if one of these Keystone Cops had a taser??
Finally it comes to an end, the kid goes to the hospital for her physical injuries which are fairly serious (two black eyes and wounds to the head consistant with being struck with a flashlight), and the Chief of Galveston Police sends her a dozen roses and an apology right? WRONG!!! No, they go to her SCHOOL three weeks later and arrest her in front of everyone else for resisting arrest and injuring AN OFFICER!! Geeez can they be more arrogant?
If you have the stomach for it, take a look at the complaint. Trust me, if you care an iota about what is left of Civil Rights in this country you better have a barf bag available.
Now even if the first part were entirely made up ala Tawanna Brawley, why did they have to arrest her at school??? SHE IS 12. What part of "12" do these dumb bastards not understand. Call her in, go politely to her home. Why embarass the child? Why is the Governor or Texas not sending his best Assistant Deputy Attorney General and his top State investigator down to Galveston with an order to bring him back some badges?? Maybe it is because Dymond is black, and her parents are poor, and so, well, maybe they think it will go away.
Has anybody seen this on the MSM??? Is Katie Couric focusing on this mess? No, but trust me, I have seen the power of Radley Balko's blog following, and there is about to be some hell to pay. I don't have his readership, but I too am pissed and I want some answers. I will be forwarding this post and a letter to my Congressman and asking that we fix 42 USC 1983 to give it the teeth it had before the SCOTUS and friends dismantled it.
As for the child, Dymond Milburn, she has nightmares about being carried off in the night and being raped by cops. Surprise!
BTW Balko got his story from the Houston Press
Then there is the attack on three kids when SWAT came into their bedroom... well maybe I will have more time for that one later. Oh yeah, the police are still shooting innocent animals too.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Why I Support Sex Worker's Rights: Part I My Introduction to "Patty"
I couldn't wait for my first case. I was a brand new "Lawyer" in Hofstra University's brand new Criminal Defense Clinic (we hadn't taken the bar yet but we worked under a student practice order while supervised by an admitted attorney). I was getting a case load, and a client or two that I could "help". I was so excited.
When the assignments were announced Doug Colbert (now a Prof at Univ. of Maryland Law but then first director of our clinic at Hofstra Law)had assigned me to a trans-gendered Prostitute!
I was stunned. I thought to myself "how am I gonna do this?" Not only was the guy gay, HE DRESSED LIKE A GIRL!! This was not what I expected. It was also going to be a great personal problem... How was I going to go home and tell my Father and Mother that the son they had spent a life savings on educating, was going to be representing "he-shes?" My Family was going to disown me. Forget my friends. They will all think I flipped! I mean I was Mr. Prosecution at school. I was so conservative, I had actually met and liked President Reagan (still do). "Oh and then what would happen to my political career if I took this case?" NO NO NO I could not represent this...GUY?!
I went to Prof. Colbert, Doug was cool, he would get it. He wouldn't put me with a client I was morally against representing! And I was right!! He wouldn't. He however pointed out a few realities to me:
1. I wanted to help people and my client needed help and a lot of it.
2. My Client needed fearless advocacy and I was fearless (I have no idea why, but this is still basically true. I rarely have ever cared what others thought of me, kind of funny now looking back and thinking I wanted to be in politics. I also always hated bullies.)
3. Morally, I needed to figure out if I could defend anyone, if my morality was more important than the "God given" rights in the US Bill of Rights.
Doug was thought provoking. I went home and spent the whole weekend thinking about what he had to say. I didn't tell the family about my new client. I did a lot of soul searching. I was the first in my Dad's family (along with my cousin Donald who is now a biglaw Corp. litigator) to go to law school. I wanted the others to think what I was doing was important. I figured if nothing else, if this got out I would get a lot of teasing. Well I could live with that. Dad on the other hand was a different story. He was CONSERVATIVE. I didn't think he would like this at all.
As luck would have it, my aunt Rosie, (who was in High School when I was born and is closer in age to me than to my mom, her sister) came over for dinner with my grandparents. She was very excited about her work. Rosie was a Medical Doctor (MD) and an Infectious Disease specialist. She was going to be a co-director of a clinic to help people who were very sick and dying from a "new plague" it was called Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). She was describing some of her clients and the work. She was way ahead of the reporting on the matter. She was telling us about how it was a scourge of the Gay community. She described the suffering of these people. The fear, the ugly death. Her frustration with the lack of funding because it seemed to be a disease that homosexuals got. No one wanted to come out and help them. I asked Roe, who is very religious, about whether she had qualms about helping "that group of people." She mentioned that our religion left judgment up to God. That all of her clients were God's children. I thought about that a lot too.
When dinner was finished, I took Rosie aside, and told her about my client. She was so excited for me. She was happy that I would use my talent to help people others had abandoned. With her encouragement, I told my dad I had a client. I told him about the crime, and about the client. Then I waited. He looked at me and then he said, "Everyone deserves a defense."
Now for most people that line wouldn't have sounded too good, but dad was a man of few words, and that was a full out message of support. I promised him that he would get the best defense anyone would give him. Dad's response was perfect... "Good,sounds like he needs it. Do the best you can". I was very happy, that was a huge hurdle. He probably wasn't happy with the situation, but at least he would support me in the endeavor.
I thought a lot about this client. A lot about how I would act when I met him, a lot about what I would say in his defense. The following Monday, I told Colbert that while I was still somewhat uncomfortable, I wanted to try to represent him.
When I met Patty, I immediately became angry. She described her treatment at the hands of the Johns and the Cops. She told me about how they would abuse her. How she was often the victim of crimes from johns, gangbangers (who wanted to prove their "manhood") and how if she went to police, they would beat her up, berate her, feel up her breasts (she was pre op) and toss her out of the precinct. Her family was completely repulsed by her. Worst of all, she had a bad drug problem, yet she was not allowed into the local clinic. They were afraid she might be carrying "the virus".
This was the most marginalized person I had ever met. Black, gay, transgendered, abandoned by society, family, government. She had no one. Well she had me, and my friend Sab who was co-counsel. Neither one of us had passed the bar, neither one of us had ever been in charge of a case before, and neither one of us were ok with Patty's sexuality, but we were sure that we weren't going to let her get run over by the government again.
We went to court that week and told the judge we weren't going to accept the plea offer to the charge and his "generous offer" of 30 days in jail. We were going to call the john as a witness and we wanted motions and hearings. He thought we were nuts. We brought him a subpoena for police records and we even filed a motion to declare the law she was arrested under unconstitutional.
In the end, the District attorney's office offered to allow Patty to plead guilty to "Disorderly Conduct" and the judge agreed to a fine of Two Hundred Fifty Dollars. Sab pointed out to the court that Patty would have to give 12 blow jobs (they went for Twenty dollars each on the streets of Hempstead back then) to afford the fine. I pointed out that it might cause a lot of people to become ill. The judge thought about it, asked how much she had in her purse and accepted the forty dollars she had. She then said she wouldn't have bus fare back to Hempstead. Sab joked loud enough for the judge to hear, that she could probably make a fast buck at the bus station around the corner from the court. The judge lowered the fine to Twenty five dollars and Patty walked out thanking us and promising to tell all the "girls" on Main street about what we accomplished for her.
I went home that afternoon and waited for dad to get home from work (he owned a construction company.) I couldn't wait to tell him how I did. I told him everything. He beamed in that quiet way of his. Then he smiled, "Sounds like you guys did a great job" He got up, and walked to the dinner table, and we had dinner, and Dad encouraged me to tell mom about my day. She wasn't comfortable with my decision to go into criminal defense, and she was not into my representing poor, transgendered/transvestite, male prostitutes, but she followed dad's lead and congratulated me. She added that she hoped my next client was more "normal", and we went on to dinner conversation that was more appropriate for supper at my family's house.
As a kid growing up, I guess I would say I was mildly homophobic. I wasn't against them per se, I just wasn't comfortable around them. I had no interest in hurting them, I just wasn't interested in their problems or issues. Patty was the first step in a career where I have represented many people who work in the sex industry. My comfort level and acceptance level rose as I began to realize that I liked some of them and didn't like others. Some were good people and others were not. I learned they had dreams and hopes, same as me. I found myself mourning a lot of these men and women as AIDS decimated the community. I find that I miss many of them.
Now that my career has taken a turn toward more "normal" clients I still cannot forget the men and women who work, either by choice or happenstance, in the sex industry and who as a society we continue to marginalize. I know from dozens of first hand observations how that marginalization, makes them exceptionally vulnerable to crime, medical issues, suicide and homelessness. I also refuse to turn my back on them. I still accept their cases in court assignments and for those that are more "successful" I take them on as private clients. I have instituted office policies and trained staff not to judge their lives or choices. I want to make the experience as comfortable for every client as I can. I have learned to work in a team approach with doctors, therapists and others to handle these clients as best as I can.
To this day, I hear my dad's voice, accepting my choice to use my education on behalf of anyone who the government has targeted. I do the very best I can.
Today was the The International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. There were walks and vigils attended by anywhere from a handful of people to thousands.
Next Monday would have been my dad's 76th Birthday.
Today, I honor both of these events. And Dad, I still miss you, everyday.
When the assignments were announced Doug Colbert (now a Prof at Univ. of Maryland Law but then first director of our clinic at Hofstra Law)had assigned me to a trans-gendered Prostitute!
I was stunned. I thought to myself "how am I gonna do this?" Not only was the guy gay, HE DRESSED LIKE A GIRL!! This was not what I expected. It was also going to be a great personal problem... How was I going to go home and tell my Father and Mother that the son they had spent a life savings on educating, was going to be representing "he-shes?" My Family was going to disown me. Forget my friends. They will all think I flipped! I mean I was Mr. Prosecution at school. I was so conservative, I had actually met and liked President Reagan (still do). "Oh and then what would happen to my political career if I took this case?" NO NO NO I could not represent this...GUY?!
I went to Prof. Colbert, Doug was cool, he would get it. He wouldn't put me with a client I was morally against representing! And I was right!! He wouldn't. He however pointed out a few realities to me:
1. I wanted to help people and my client needed help and a lot of it.
2. My Client needed fearless advocacy and I was fearless (I have no idea why, but this is still basically true. I rarely have ever cared what others thought of me, kind of funny now looking back and thinking I wanted to be in politics. I also always hated bullies.)
3. Morally, I needed to figure out if I could defend anyone, if my morality was more important than the "God given" rights in the US Bill of Rights.
Doug was thought provoking. I went home and spent the whole weekend thinking about what he had to say. I didn't tell the family about my new client. I did a lot of soul searching. I was the first in my Dad's family (along with my cousin Donald who is now a biglaw Corp. litigator) to go to law school. I wanted the others to think what I was doing was important. I figured if nothing else, if this got out I would get a lot of teasing. Well I could live with that. Dad on the other hand was a different story. He was CONSERVATIVE. I didn't think he would like this at all.
As luck would have it, my aunt Rosie, (who was in High School when I was born and is closer in age to me than to my mom, her sister) came over for dinner with my grandparents. She was very excited about her work. Rosie was a Medical Doctor (MD) and an Infectious Disease specialist. She was going to be a co-director of a clinic to help people who were very sick and dying from a "new plague" it was called Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). She was describing some of her clients and the work. She was way ahead of the reporting on the matter. She was telling us about how it was a scourge of the Gay community. She described the suffering of these people. The fear, the ugly death. Her frustration with the lack of funding because it seemed to be a disease that homosexuals got. No one wanted to come out and help them. I asked Roe, who is very religious, about whether she had qualms about helping "that group of people." She mentioned that our religion left judgment up to God. That all of her clients were God's children. I thought about that a lot too.
When dinner was finished, I took Rosie aside, and told her about my client. She was so excited for me. She was happy that I would use my talent to help people others had abandoned. With her encouragement, I told my dad I had a client. I told him about the crime, and about the client. Then I waited. He looked at me and then he said, "Everyone deserves a defense."
Now for most people that line wouldn't have sounded too good, but dad was a man of few words, and that was a full out message of support. I promised him that he would get the best defense anyone would give him. Dad's response was perfect... "Good,sounds like he needs it. Do the best you can". I was very happy, that was a huge hurdle. He probably wasn't happy with the situation, but at least he would support me in the endeavor.
I thought a lot about this client. A lot about how I would act when I met him, a lot about what I would say in his defense. The following Monday, I told Colbert that while I was still somewhat uncomfortable, I wanted to try to represent him.
When I met Patty, I immediately became angry. She described her treatment at the hands of the Johns and the Cops. She told me about how they would abuse her. How she was often the victim of crimes from johns, gangbangers (who wanted to prove their "manhood") and how if she went to police, they would beat her up, berate her, feel up her breasts (she was pre op) and toss her out of the precinct. Her family was completely repulsed by her. Worst of all, she had a bad drug problem, yet she was not allowed into the local clinic. They were afraid she might be carrying "the virus".
This was the most marginalized person I had ever met. Black, gay, transgendered, abandoned by society, family, government. She had no one. Well she had me, and my friend Sab who was co-counsel. Neither one of us had passed the bar, neither one of us had ever been in charge of a case before, and neither one of us were ok with Patty's sexuality, but we were sure that we weren't going to let her get run over by the government again.
We went to court that week and told the judge we weren't going to accept the plea offer to the charge and his "generous offer" of 30 days in jail. We were going to call the john as a witness and we wanted motions and hearings. He thought we were nuts. We brought him a subpoena for police records and we even filed a motion to declare the law she was arrested under unconstitutional.
In the end, the District attorney's office offered to allow Patty to plead guilty to "Disorderly Conduct" and the judge agreed to a fine of Two Hundred Fifty Dollars. Sab pointed out to the court that Patty would have to give 12 blow jobs (they went for Twenty dollars each on the streets of Hempstead back then) to afford the fine. I pointed out that it might cause a lot of people to become ill. The judge thought about it, asked how much she had in her purse and accepted the forty dollars she had. She then said she wouldn't have bus fare back to Hempstead. Sab joked loud enough for the judge to hear, that she could probably make a fast buck at the bus station around the corner from the court. The judge lowered the fine to Twenty five dollars and Patty walked out thanking us and promising to tell all the "girls" on Main street about what we accomplished for her.
I went home that afternoon and waited for dad to get home from work (he owned a construction company.) I couldn't wait to tell him how I did. I told him everything. He beamed in that quiet way of his. Then he smiled, "Sounds like you guys did a great job" He got up, and walked to the dinner table, and we had dinner, and Dad encouraged me to tell mom about my day. She wasn't comfortable with my decision to go into criminal defense, and she was not into my representing poor, transgendered/transvestite, male prostitutes, but she followed dad's lead and congratulated me. She added that she hoped my next client was more "normal", and we went on to dinner conversation that was more appropriate for supper at my family's house.
As a kid growing up, I guess I would say I was mildly homophobic. I wasn't against them per se, I just wasn't comfortable around them. I had no interest in hurting them, I just wasn't interested in their problems or issues. Patty was the first step in a career where I have represented many people who work in the sex industry. My comfort level and acceptance level rose as I began to realize that I liked some of them and didn't like others. Some were good people and others were not. I learned they had dreams and hopes, same as me. I found myself mourning a lot of these men and women as AIDS decimated the community. I find that I miss many of them.
Now that my career has taken a turn toward more "normal" clients I still cannot forget the men and women who work, either by choice or happenstance, in the sex industry and who as a society we continue to marginalize. I know from dozens of first hand observations how that marginalization, makes them exceptionally vulnerable to crime, medical issues, suicide and homelessness. I also refuse to turn my back on them. I still accept their cases in court assignments and for those that are more "successful" I take them on as private clients. I have instituted office policies and trained staff not to judge their lives or choices. I want to make the experience as comfortable for every client as I can. I have learned to work in a team approach with doctors, therapists and others to handle these clients as best as I can.
To this day, I hear my dad's voice, accepting my choice to use my education on behalf of anyone who the government has targeted. I do the very best I can.
Today was the The International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. There were walks and vigils attended by anywhere from a handful of people to thousands.
Next Monday would have been my dad's 76th Birthday.
Today, I honor both of these events. And Dad, I still miss you, everyday.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Porn Stars In the Classroom, Hookers Right Next Door, Here I Am Stuck In The Middle With You
This story and this blog post caught my attention. In their own way, each is about the same thing. Unlike the way sex workers are portrayed in the movies or on TV (especially during a "sweeps" month), most of the people in the trade are not really different than the person in the next apartment.
In the news story, a woman who earlier in her life was known to the world as Crystal Gunns, a porn star, was unwittingly hired by a local school to be an aide. She works part-time. She earns less than Six Thousand Dollars a year and works on the play ground and as a lunch aide.
Now though she is not shy about her past, she has also put it behind her. She is 32 now not 22. She may be a mom. I don't think I would have named her for others to deride her, as she has committed no crime but only sought to earn a living. I know had she been in another business the press would not have named her.
Parents want her fired. The Superintendent of her school district wants to fire her too (
Superintendent Charles Ottinger, who is of the same mindset as (Principal)Giordano, says they have been advised against firing the teachers aide, “Not that we don’t want to.”)
It is just that you see, Ms.Gunns would be able to sue the living daylights out of the school district. After all, what has she done wrong? Adult films (as opposed to Pornography) is legal. It is also a way that some men and women make money. Sly Stalone was in an adult film, as was Jackie Chan. There is no crime and thus there is no reason to fire her unless she is inappropriate with the kids. Interestingly, the kids would have not had any idea this is happening at their school but for someone publicizing it.
Now on The Debauched Domestic Diva's blog, Dee blogs about having lived a double life. She was a sexy women cheating on her husband and exploring her sexuality while leaving the chains of a dead marriage, and was his Mrs. Cleaver at home and work. (I'll leave out the Usher lyric). She talks about how she feels now that she can be more of herself. She had recently "come out" to some of her friends and now she feels she has a better relationship with her friends and is more close to them now she can be honest with them about her sexual affairs.
Now this immediately got me thinking about a blog post by Rebbeca Dios that dealt with how she would now handle being part of a community that would not accept her decisions nor recognize her needs. It comes as no shock to me that being outed has disturbed her income and negitively affect her family. She was threatened, and shunned in her small town. She fears for her husband and children. Rebecca is an enormously brave woman who faces illness in her home and her choices of how to deal with those choices straight on.
Then I remembered this post that really began me blogging occasionally of the people I represent that work in the sex trade.
It has been three years since I wrote those words and the fact of the matter is that I was right then and now. What makes me laugh is that these women are the same people who shop with us, and bowl with us, and eat at the table in the restaurant right next to us.
I am representing women now who work in the sex trade who also hold down full time jobs as teachers, nurses and secretaries in big Multi-national companies. These are not women who have left the adult business, but who are still "transitioning." I have represented women who serve on Congressional staffs.
I know one who is actually quiet religious and intends to join an "order" when she returns home (Latin America) but right now she sells herself (she is a stripper who offers "extras" because she is caring for a sick mother and father both of whom require serious surgeries at home.) She is well aware that she is sinning. So is her priest. She is honest with him. She fears being shunned at home, but more, she fears being arrested here and returned to home before she makes enough to pay the doctors and hospital and thus gets her folks thrown into the street. She is a beautiful young woman who is bright and earnest. She just cannot earn the money she earns here at home, and she cannot get a job here without being thrown out. So she "goes" to school and gets decent grades and strips at night and works for tips. She goes to Church on Saturdays and admits her sins, and on Sunday to pray for forgiveness. She is back at her "job" on Tuesday night.
I even represent a police women who has a very active though very exclusive escort life which she takes out of town.
There is a very competent lawyer I know who used to act in "B" movies with a lot of sexual tension and nudity. At first the men she worked around snickered. Maybe some still do, but that is likely before she beats their sorry butts in court.
Not one of the women I have represented or know, if others knew of their other job, would be able to work in their day jobs. (the exeption being the lawyer who interestingly works as a criminal defense attorney) On the other hand, not one of them is not outstanding in their work. I know, I have spoken or met co-workers, bosses and seen grades and met teachers. Sometimes these women come to me through those referral sources.
From all that I can see being somewhat of an outsider, sex work is neither easy nor is it "fun". It is work. Now I did not say it is drudgery. For most of these women it has its good times and bad. The one thing I have not seen is how it negatively affects their ability to be good teachers, nurses, or employees. I do not see why once they give it up, it should stygmatize them and make them unable to serve children food or watch them play.
For whatever reason a person enters the work of sex, their should also be a way to exit the world and join the ranks of those with less "interesting" jobs. When are we as a society going to look at people for who they are and not what they do. Yes I know that part of what we are is what we do, but just because someone doesn't view the world the way we do doesn't disqualify them to live next door.
It is funny but I know of people who have in my opinion done far worse things than agree to have sex with others. I know people who cheat their clients, who lie to the court, who are sworn to secrecy but can't keep a secret for all the tea in Boston. I know people whose ideas of right and wrong include telling their minions that stealing and obfucation are just part of the job. Yet many of these mostly men are lauded by colleagues and hired at quiet a good price. I know men who will beat or rob or rape a sex worker knowing that she cannot go to Police for fear of "outing" herself.
That is the normal way I these clients find me. They are not usually arrested. They are victims of assaults. They come to me because they fear reprisals from authorities. I often tell them they shouldn't but I will admit there have been times when they should and I am glad I or a staff member was there to stop some SOB from refusing to listen to their story or from firing them for their job. Fear of lawsuits and crusading lawyers is a good way to keep certain types(like School Superintendent Ottinger and Principal Giordano above)in check. (I remember Professor Monroe Freedman on the first day of classes telling us that from the minute we entered the room that we were going to be feared by all the other professions in the world, that as lawyers we were the ones they most worried about. He taught me to use the strength of our profession to do good. I try every day.)
What is funny, is that I have had potential clients who have not hired me, because I will not abandon these sex worker clients and won't keep the fact that I take such cases a secret. They feel it makes me something less of a lawyer. If anything, it makes me far better a lawyer, but I am not upset. They can keep their fees and their lawyers who look down on these clients and maybe me too. Everynight I can look at myself and feel like I have really helped someone who if not for my effort would have had no one to fight for them, no one to protect them.
Frankly however, it shouldn't have to come down to the largesse of a few hearty souls like the men and women of NACDL or FALA. People even sex workers, have a right to be protected and to expect that the law will not punish them for seeking to be protected. They should have a right to re-enter "straight" society when the time comes and to be judged on who they are and what they know and not on how they earned a living.
There is a March in Washington on December 17, 2008. The National March for Sex Worker Rights . It is a day when those of us who believe that no one should live a life of fear of attack nor fear of reprisal for being a sex worker will lift our collective voices and call on our leaders to bring an end to this kind of hate.
If you are available, you might want to check this out. You never know, the person you fight for, may be someone you know, and love, but is afraid to tell you about her choices.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
BREAKING NEWS SDNY US ATTORNEY MICHAEL GARCIA RESIGNS
REUTERS NEWS AGENCY REPORTS BREAKING NEWS: SDNY US ATTORNEY MICHAEL GARCIA RESIGNS EFFECTIVE DECEMBER 1ST 2008.
Garcia's anticipated resignation came today at 5:30. He is leaving after just 3 years as the lead prosecutor and US Attorney in Manhattan to join a law firm (rumored to be Kirkland and Ellis )
Garcia has presided over the investigation into the Prostitution ring that brought down NY Governor Elliot Spitzer and the corruption case of Former NYS Assemblyman and AFL/CIO leader Brian McLaughlin. Thereafter, McLaughlin rolled on Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio who was also indicted.
Two weeks ago, Garcia announced that he would not indict Elliot Spitzer. It was rumored that such an agreement was secretly reached with Spitzer in order to assure he resigned as Governor.
If Hillary Clinton were to be appointed Secretary of State, Garcia would be considered a leading Republican candidate for NYS jr. Senator.
Garcia's anticipated resignation came today at 5:30. He is leaving after just 3 years as the lead prosecutor and US Attorney in Manhattan to join a law firm (rumored to be Kirkland and Ellis )
Garcia has presided over the investigation into the Prostitution ring that brought down NY Governor Elliot Spitzer and the corruption case of Former NYS Assemblyman and AFL/CIO leader Brian McLaughlin. Thereafter, McLaughlin rolled on Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio who was also indicted.
Two weeks ago, Garcia announced that he would not indict Elliot Spitzer. It was rumored that such an agreement was secretly reached with Spitzer in order to assure he resigned as Governor.
If Hillary Clinton were to be appointed Secretary of State, Garcia would be considered a leading Republican candidate for NYS jr. Senator.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Around The Blogosphere The Week of November 11, 2008 Part III of III* : Of Women, Music and All That Jazz.
*I know I previously said four. I reserve the right to consolidate because I am tired.
Here is my last installment from the Week of November 11, 2008.
1.Two Sex-Workers Talk About the Sex Trade.(Links are NSFW).
I spend a lot of time representing men and women who are involved in the Business of Sex. Some of their pursuits are legal, some not legal, some straddle the boarder. Occasionally I write about the experience. I also however keep up with what some of the people in the provider and "hobbyist" side of the field are saying.
This week the New York City Sex Bloggers rolled out their 2009 "pinup"calendar to benefit the Sex Workers Awareness (an education and outreach program)which I am told is a non-profit organization I have seen the way people treat Sex workers. I have seen the way that police discount them and how they have been marginalized though many are smart and hard working mothers, caretakers, students, and just regular folk. I would not treat a dog the way our criminal justice system treats these people. Hence I am giving their calendar a shout out here. I would have been at the rollout party last night but for a pressing and late breaking personal issue.
Meanwhile I thought I would highlight two posts from Sex Workers blogs.
A. This one at "The Real Princess Diaries" is about the way most sex-workers view their clientele. It doesn't apply to all and it doesn't apply to the entire strata anymore than any opinion piece can sum up the position of all workers in any field. It is indicative of how most of the clients I have see the scene.
B. Renegade Evolution is a blog, and from what I can gather a person too. She is a sex blogger and worker. She is opinionated, blunt and usually succinct. In this post she talks about a fact in the sex field that makes it hard to help sex workers (providers) and stops them from uniting. It is the Sex Worker Caste System and I see it everyday.
Stop a topless dancer and tell her she is a sex worker, she will tell you she is involved in a legal business and she is a good girl but that escorts are whores. She will tell you all she does is expose her body and people give her money for the privilege of seeing the Hand of God in her beauty.
The High end Escort will tell you that the stripper is the real whore, selling her body and teasing her clients for a buck here or there. She on the other hand does not expose herself before countless others. She only "dates" nice wealthy men who she would likely sleep with anyway if they met under other circumstances. In addition unlike the Porn star or stripper, her work is done in private and is "confidential".
The Porn Star thinks they are both insane. She will tell you she sleeps with men she knows and many whom she loves, she makes a lot of money far more than the others and she is engaged in a safe and legal field where the women call a lot of the shots.
Renegade Evolution thinks they should put away the Bull and unite to help each other. I have to say I agree with her. It is about time workers in the field get out of each others way, acknowledge the business they are all in and try to improve conditions for all. The fight is like criminal lawyers not acknowledging the work of litigators or transactional lawyers. It is all law just different...
2..The Music Scene
A. Wynton Marsalis and Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC) have been celebrating Louis Armstrong and Thelonious Monk. Two of my all time favs. Here is a link to the post about the Armstrong speech and this one on e nights of Thelonious Monk tribute concerts.
B. Probation in Plea Deal for Blogger Who Leaked Guns N’ Roses Songs. Blogger streamed 9 G'n R songs on his blog, busted for the Copyright Infringement. Getting Probation, hasn't told where he got the songs from... still may however. I wonder if he had streamed only snippets of each song if that would have been protected speech??? IP Genius' any ideas?
C. "Tuba Man" Murdered by Teens, Seattle Mourns
Every city has a person or two who are as big if not bigger than that city itself. He is half village idiot, half sage, but he is beloved and the city adopts him. In NY it is the "Naked Cowboy", In San Francisco it's Frank Chu, In Washington DC it is President Bush, but in Seattle Washington it was Edward Scott McMichael aka "Tuba Man". He was a "busker" a man who made his living making his music on the streets. He was a guy who seemed to pop up everywhere, asking "DO YOU WANT TO BE A PART OF IT?? Who didn't want to be a part of it. He could take your worst day and make you smile with the "Um pa pa" of the Tuba.
"Tuba Man" was murdered allegedly by a group of teens who didn't recognize him. He didn't have his Tuba with him that day.
Story from the NY Times
Money Quote: “Ed would ask in his unmistakable baritone, ‘John, do you want to be a part of it tonight?’ ” Mr. Tangeman recalled. “This statement was part of the genius of Ed, as if contributing to Ed’s efforts, one was not only being a part of Ed’s life but being a part of something much larger, something almost unobtainable.”
That's it for now. I may or may not post another part later. If I do, consider this III of IV. Otherwise, who knows.
Here is my last installment from the Week of November 11, 2008.
1.Two Sex-Workers Talk About the Sex Trade.(Links are NSFW).
I spend a lot of time representing men and women who are involved in the Business of Sex. Some of their pursuits are legal, some not legal, some straddle the boarder. Occasionally I write about the experience. I also however keep up with what some of the people in the provider and "hobbyist" side of the field are saying.
This week the New York City Sex Bloggers rolled out their 2009 "pinup"calendar to benefit the Sex Workers Awareness (an education and outreach program)which I am told is a non-profit organization I have seen the way people treat Sex workers. I have seen the way that police discount them and how they have been marginalized though many are smart and hard working mothers, caretakers, students, and just regular folk. I would not treat a dog the way our criminal justice system treats these people. Hence I am giving their calendar a shout out here. I would have been at the rollout party last night but for a pressing and late breaking personal issue.
Meanwhile I thought I would highlight two posts from Sex Workers blogs.
A. This one at "The Real Princess Diaries" is about the way most sex-workers view their clientele. It doesn't apply to all and it doesn't apply to the entire strata anymore than any opinion piece can sum up the position of all workers in any field. It is indicative of how most of the clients I have see the scene.
B. Renegade Evolution is a blog, and from what I can gather a person too. She is a sex blogger and worker. She is opinionated, blunt and usually succinct. In this post she talks about a fact in the sex field that makes it hard to help sex workers (providers) and stops them from uniting. It is the Sex Worker Caste System and I see it everyday.
Stop a topless dancer and tell her she is a sex worker, she will tell you she is involved in a legal business and she is a good girl but that escorts are whores. She will tell you all she does is expose her body and people give her money for the privilege of seeing the Hand of God in her beauty.
The High end Escort will tell you that the stripper is the real whore, selling her body and teasing her clients for a buck here or there. She on the other hand does not expose herself before countless others. She only "dates" nice wealthy men who she would likely sleep with anyway if they met under other circumstances. In addition unlike the Porn star or stripper, her work is done in private and is "confidential".
The Porn Star thinks they are both insane. She will tell you she sleeps with men she knows and many whom she loves, she makes a lot of money far more than the others and she is engaged in a safe and legal field where the women call a lot of the shots.
Renegade Evolution thinks they should put away the Bull and unite to help each other. I have to say I agree with her. It is about time workers in the field get out of each others way, acknowledge the business they are all in and try to improve conditions for all. The fight is like criminal lawyers not acknowledging the work of litigators or transactional lawyers. It is all law just different...
2..The Music Scene
A. Wynton Marsalis and Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC) have been celebrating Louis Armstrong and Thelonious Monk. Two of my all time favs. Here is a link to the post about the Armstrong speech and this one on e nights of Thelonious Monk tribute concerts.
B. Probation in Plea Deal for Blogger Who Leaked Guns N’ Roses Songs. Blogger streamed 9 G'n R songs on his blog, busted for the Copyright Infringement. Getting Probation, hasn't told where he got the songs from... still may however. I wonder if he had streamed only snippets of each song if that would have been protected speech??? IP Genius' any ideas?
C. "Tuba Man" Murdered by Teens, Seattle Mourns
Every city has a person or two who are as big if not bigger than that city itself. He is half village idiot, half sage, but he is beloved and the city adopts him. In NY it is the "Naked Cowboy", In San Francisco it's Frank Chu, In Washington DC it is President Bush, but in Seattle Washington it was Edward Scott McMichael aka "Tuba Man". He was a "busker" a man who made his living making his music on the streets. He was a guy who seemed to pop up everywhere, asking "DO YOU WANT TO BE A PART OF IT?? Who didn't want to be a part of it. He could take your worst day and make you smile with the "Um pa pa" of the Tuba.
"Tuba Man" was murdered allegedly by a group of teens who didn't recognize him. He didn't have his Tuba with him that day.
Story from the NY Times
Money Quote: “Ed would ask in his unmistakable baritone, ‘John, do you want to be a part of it tonight?’ ” Mr. Tangeman recalled. “This statement was part of the genius of Ed, as if contributing to Ed’s efforts, one was not only being a part of Ed’s life but being a part of something much larger, something almost unobtainable.”
That's it for now. I may or may not post another part later. If I do, consider this III of IV. Otherwise, who knows.
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Craig's List is a Hotbed of Online Prostitution: So Who Knew??
This must be the week for Prostitution on blogs. Instapundit sites this article about the (sewer/treasure trove{?}) that Craig's List Erotic Service Section has become in the search for "sex on the run." I think the comments below the article are interesting however.
For example:
"Posted by whb on October 5, 2008 at 2:53 a.m.
It is illegal to pay to have sex, but it is legal to pay to watch people who are paid to have sex, i.e., a porno film.
As porno films are legal to buy and watch, they should therefore be legal to make (can't have one without the other).
So, all these professionals should advertise for a co-star in an upcoming film and set up a camera at the meeting location. This should legitimize the transaction, and the police can then focus their attention on something worthwhile."
I have had this thought myself a number of times. There are issues that the "service provider" would have to resolve but it is an interesting idea. (Let me know what you think in the comments section.)
Anyway, the comments to the article seem to indicate that even in "Bible Belt" Tenn. people get the idea that maybe law enforcement ought to be doing something other than chasing down randy adult men (and the adults who make money off of meeting their sex drive).
What these citizens do not realize (and I am surprised the Instapundit doesn't point out) is that these Prostitution stings are funded by good 'ole Uncle Sam. That's right, special funding is coming from the Justice Department (by way of The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, to local police departments that arrest these people. That puts cops off the street and takes local police department eyes off of the real crime in their cities and towns.
What's worse is The William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act also known as HR.3887. This little baby wants to federalize the crime of prostitution. Can you imagine the increase in the US Justice Dept. budget if we did that?? Where will we get the personnel to deal with important stuff like Terrorist, Organized crime and Wall Street criminals? The scary thing is a version of the bill passed the House 405-02 in 2006! In fact the Justice Dept. opposes HR.3887
It is all part of the Neo-con game of keeping the Religious Right enraptured. No money expenditure is too large if it makes some televangelist happy...
Sex in the News: A quick look at Cyber Crimes and Prostitution in the Newspapers.
A sizable portion of my law practice deals with representing people accused of sex crimes on Long Island (Nassau & Suffolk Counties) and in New York City (especially in the boroughs of Manhattan and Queens. Since I have found the Tweetdeck, I can do a lot of research as to what is happening around the country (and world)in practice areas that I focus on. Since I am starting a Burglary trial in Queens tomorrow, and I expect my blogging to suffer as usual, I am going to leave a few of the articles making news in the Sex Crime area with you.
The InquisitR reports that the Feds have charged a Gainsville Florida college student with violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act for installing a spy cam on a number of female college students computers after they had paid him to repair their hardware. Seems he was able to program the computer to start and send him pictures when the girls moved near the computer. Now that is Spyware at its absolute worst.
Then in Provo Utah, we have a randy doctor allegedly willing to exchange meds for sex. He was arrested for Prostitution. It is not determined if this was a straight trade Sex for meds or if in addition to prostitution, he was distributing meds illegally. Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "check up".
Staying with the prostitution scheme for a while, we have MSNBC reporting that a mother and daughter team was running a brothel out of their apartment. The women advertised their services on Craigslist (which is like extending an invitation to Police to come and arrest you). The pair ages 22 and 39 were renting a home for the past year. Neighbors complained about the pair. The mother, distraught at the arrest blamed the economy for forcing them into a life of Prostitution. Now that leads us to our last story in this roundup:
The Edmonton Sun News reports that according to some social workers Prostitution is an addiction disease and that breaking the addiction is the key to leaving the Sex Trade. I am not sure that the paper or the shrinks have it right.
If we are talking an addiction to sex, then that would be Nymphomania. I think however, what the Sun is describing is an addiction to the money and life style of the high price prostitute or GFE Escort . The act of being a prostitute is just the tool to feed the addiction rather than the addiction itself. It is like saying that a burglar is addicted to burglary because he uses the money he gets to fund his drug habit. Now the issue of the addiction to dangerous sex or even the excitement of potentially being arrested is another part of this "prostitution addiction" however, I would say that at least in the escort world, that is not a prevalent factor to women entering the trade. The suggestion may be that this addiction is more applicable to street prostitutes, however the money there is far from easy nor is the life glamorous. Anyway, it will be interesting to see if the Edmonton initiative has an effect of reducing prostitution in any meaningful way.
Finally if you are looking for more information on Sex crimes, In addition to contacting me or keeping an eye on our blog, I want to recommend the Sex Crimes Blog to you. It is a wealth of information.
Friday, May 02, 2008
BREAKING NEWS: Deborah Jeanne Palfrey, The "D.C. Madame" Commits Suicide
Deborah Jeanne Palfrey "The D.C. Madame" kept her macabre promise. She killed herself rather than spend another day in jail. Her elderly mom found her hanging from a steel beam in the shed... That is two deaths now associated with an Escort Service/prostitution ring... I don't know, somehow I don't feel any safer knowing that the Feds are spending my tax money prosecuting people like Deborah Jeanne... amazing how important this prosecution was to the government.
Well we don't have to worry about the evils of the Pamela Martin Agency anymore... I wonder how were doing with that Osama bin Laden guy.
What a freaking waste!
Story here
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
In Oregon The Scarlet Letter is P.
My Way News
It’s not that a former prostitute can’t teach in Oregon, it’s just that they won’t let her. That’s right; a conviction for prostitution at anytime in your life is a lifetime bar to getting a license and job as a schoolteacher. Now I am not advocating putting active street prostitutes into elementary schools and letting them teach minors. I am however wondering how a crime which is a misdemeanor (a less serious offense) can work as a lifetime prohibition to a career in the teaching profession.
I have been working with people in the adult entertainment field since I started practicing law. I have represented everyone from street-walking-male-transvestite prostitutes, to expensive escorts, from strippers and strip club owners, to madams and even a few adult entertainment movie “stars.” I have never once interview one and found that the work they were doing was a life long dream. In fact most of the lower pay scale sex industry workers (street prostitutes and pimps) were in “the life” (their euphemism for the work they do) because of drug addiction alcoholism and other social and medical problems. Few of these people get out of “the life” intact. Many die of disease or are murdered or suicide. Others just keep falling out of society deeper and deeper into homelessness and despair.
Those higher up on the food chain of the sex industry have a better chance of making it. If they are young enough and pretty enough they can bring in a lot of money for a while. The work and “the life” take its toll on a young person. There is nothing worse than seeing a kid just starting out in that business. They are still hopeful that it will all be over in a short while, and still optimistic enough to think that they can beat the odds. See them just a few months later and it is sad to say you see a dull glaze in their eyes. They are cynical and keep others at a safe distance. They build a wall around themselves so high that few if any can scale it. They grow cold toward others and their chances of coming out normal have all but faded away into the night. They often turn to drugs to help them block out the work and the people.
Now of course this is not everyone’s experience. Some of these kids find true love in a john who takes them off the streets, or out of the massage parlors, and takes care of them. However, that is so few that it is almost a statistical anomaly. Others however do make it out. They are smart enough or lucky enough to meet someone who will mentor them. Someone who will help them reach goals they used to dream about in better days. Many of my clients’ are here because the have no other skill that can pay them enough to keep them clothed and fed with a roof over their heads. Many suffer abuse and have no choice; they either play... or die. Others still have little children with no one to help them care for them physically or financially.
So then why do I think that the Oregon law is so awful? Because every so often someone of them makes it. Every so often one saves enough to get a home, or to pay tuition or to get the mental or physical help they need. Every so often one will surprise you. If you think that those that make it out have no value, you are just burying your head in the sand. What those kids can teach another about perseverance and keeping out of the gutter is amazing.
From the beginning of my career in criminal law, I have always tried to get this group to the next level of their life as quickly as possible. I have advised many of these (mostly) women on how to save money and how to find a financial adviser or accountant. The result of my work has yielded some truly amazing stories.
I have one former client who has finished medical school after 2 years of being a NYC street walker and homeless person. She cleaned up in a shelter for battered women that I took her to after securing her release from custody. Her pimp had been beating her from the time she was 16. It has been sixteen hard years. Now in her 30’s, she is an OB/GYN. She donates her time to a charity that works with runaways. She is giving back and she has told me I was her inspiration for that. I have a couple of law school graduates and more than a handful of social workers, schoolteachers, and even a couple of psychologists in the group.
This week I am attending one of my former client’s graduation ceremonies. She is getting her Master’s degree. She was a homeless mother of a young child when I met her. She became pregnant in her last year of college and left school. The baby’s father is of no help and her own family thinks her a disgrace. At least they did until she achieved her master’s degree. They were not there for her when she needed them so she did it on her own, (with a little encouragement from some others and me.)
I hope that her case will not come back to haunt her. She took the road she had in front of her to clothe feed and shelter her little one and herself. I am of the belief that she will be a great public servant and a role model to many women in the future. I already have her mentoring a young Hispanic mother who is trying her hardest to make it out of “the life” and into a program that will help her to become a teacher. We are not there yet. She is still working out there, but she has potential.
Imagine what would happen to her if she lived in Oregon. Imagine more what will happen to the kids that she could mentor. Like the Doc, the lawyers, and the shrinks we have worked with, she too has the ability to help others not be where she is. In Oregon, they fail to see the value in having someone who has “been there.” They only see the scarlet letter on her chest. They do not care about the child she raises while still a child herself. They are oblivious to the sexual and physical abuse she endured that led her to the work she now does. They fail to see the value of the person she is and can be. They focus instead on a behavior. They would rather point at her and ridicule than learn from the rich lessons that she can teach. Seeing and encouraging potential in a person is what a leader does. The state house in Oregon is devoid tonight of leaders.
Shame on leaders who will not lead! Opinion polls should not be the sole basis of political decision-making. Polls need to be consulted no doubt about it, but sometimes you have to lead people through a forest and hope they will not hate you for it in the end. That too is what leadership is.
Those of my clients who have been in this crazy life and made their way out, have more insight into human nature and more courage than the entirety of the state senate and the state assembly of the state of Oregon. I pity the taxpayers there.
If you want to comment, you may leave one here, or, you can write to me directly, by visiting our website at www.colleluorilaw.com.
It’s not that a former prostitute can’t teach in Oregon, it’s just that they won’t let her. That’s right; a conviction for prostitution at anytime in your life is a lifetime bar to getting a license and job as a schoolteacher. Now I am not advocating putting active street prostitutes into elementary schools and letting them teach minors. I am however wondering how a crime which is a misdemeanor (a less serious offense) can work as a lifetime prohibition to a career in the teaching profession.
I have been working with people in the adult entertainment field since I started practicing law. I have represented everyone from street-walking-male-transvestite prostitutes, to expensive escorts, from strippers and strip club owners, to madams and even a few adult entertainment movie “stars.” I have never once interview one and found that the work they were doing was a life long dream. In fact most of the lower pay scale sex industry workers (street prostitutes and pimps) were in “the life” (their euphemism for the work they do) because of drug addiction alcoholism and other social and medical problems. Few of these people get out of “the life” intact. Many die of disease or are murdered or suicide. Others just keep falling out of society deeper and deeper into homelessness and despair.
Those higher up on the food chain of the sex industry have a better chance of making it. If they are young enough and pretty enough they can bring in a lot of money for a while. The work and “the life” take its toll on a young person. There is nothing worse than seeing a kid just starting out in that business. They are still hopeful that it will all be over in a short while, and still optimistic enough to think that they can beat the odds. See them just a few months later and it is sad to say you see a dull glaze in their eyes. They are cynical and keep others at a safe distance. They build a wall around themselves so high that few if any can scale it. They grow cold toward others and their chances of coming out normal have all but faded away into the night. They often turn to drugs to help them block out the work and the people.
Now of course this is not everyone’s experience. Some of these kids find true love in a john who takes them off the streets, or out of the massage parlors, and takes care of them. However, that is so few that it is almost a statistical anomaly. Others however do make it out. They are smart enough or lucky enough to meet someone who will mentor them. Someone who will help them reach goals they used to dream about in better days. Many of my clients’ are here because the have no other skill that can pay them enough to keep them clothed and fed with a roof over their heads. Many suffer abuse and have no choice; they either play... or die. Others still have little children with no one to help them care for them physically or financially.
So then why do I think that the Oregon law is so awful? Because every so often someone of them makes it. Every so often one saves enough to get a home, or to pay tuition or to get the mental or physical help they need. Every so often one will surprise you. If you think that those that make it out have no value, you are just burying your head in the sand. What those kids can teach another about perseverance and keeping out of the gutter is amazing.
From the beginning of my career in criminal law, I have always tried to get this group to the next level of their life as quickly as possible. I have advised many of these (mostly) women on how to save money and how to find a financial adviser or accountant. The result of my work has yielded some truly amazing stories.
I have one former client who has finished medical school after 2 years of being a NYC street walker and homeless person. She cleaned up in a shelter for battered women that I took her to after securing her release from custody. Her pimp had been beating her from the time she was 16. It has been sixteen hard years. Now in her 30’s, she is an OB/GYN. She donates her time to a charity that works with runaways. She is giving back and she has told me I was her inspiration for that. I have a couple of law school graduates and more than a handful of social workers, schoolteachers, and even a couple of psychologists in the group.
This week I am attending one of my former client’s graduation ceremonies. She is getting her Master’s degree. She was a homeless mother of a young child when I met her. She became pregnant in her last year of college and left school. The baby’s father is of no help and her own family thinks her a disgrace. At least they did until she achieved her master’s degree. They were not there for her when she needed them so she did it on her own, (with a little encouragement from some others and me.)
I hope that her case will not come back to haunt her. She took the road she had in front of her to clothe feed and shelter her little one and herself. I am of the belief that she will be a great public servant and a role model to many women in the future. I already have her mentoring a young Hispanic mother who is trying her hardest to make it out of “the life” and into a program that will help her to become a teacher. We are not there yet. She is still working out there, but she has potential.
Imagine what would happen to her if she lived in Oregon. Imagine more what will happen to the kids that she could mentor. Like the Doc, the lawyers, and the shrinks we have worked with, she too has the ability to help others not be where she is. In Oregon, they fail to see the value in having someone who has “been there.” They only see the scarlet letter on her chest. They do not care about the child she raises while still a child herself. They are oblivious to the sexual and physical abuse she endured that led her to the work she now does. They fail to see the value of the person she is and can be. They focus instead on a behavior. They would rather point at her and ridicule than learn from the rich lessons that she can teach. Seeing and encouraging potential in a person is what a leader does. The state house in Oregon is devoid tonight of leaders.
Shame on leaders who will not lead! Opinion polls should not be the sole basis of political decision-making. Polls need to be consulted no doubt about it, but sometimes you have to lead people through a forest and hope they will not hate you for it in the end. That too is what leadership is.
Those of my clients who have been in this crazy life and made their way out, have more insight into human nature and more courage than the entirety of the state senate and the state assembly of the state of Oregon. I pity the taxpayers there.
If you want to comment, you may leave one here, or, you can write to me directly, by visiting our website at www.colleluorilaw.com.
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