LEGISLATION FOR THE REPRESSION OF PROSTITUTION

e.

To procure or solicit, or offer to do so for such purpose; 27 f. To reside in, enter, or remain in any such place for such purpose; 28

g. To engage in prostitution, lewdness, or assignation, or to aid or abet therein.2

29

Prostitution should be defined to include the giving or receiving of the body, for hire, or the giving or receiving of the body for indiscriminate sexual intercourse without hire. (See Form No. 1, p. 55.)

This law is specially designed to meet the new conditions and forms which prostitution has now assumed. It strikes at the go-between, penalizes the driver of the for-hire automobile for permitting his conveyance to be used in the furtherance of prostitution, and punishes the immediate parties to the act, as well as the exploiters. It is particularly meritorious in that it removes all suspicion of sex distinction.

2. A law, known as the "Injunction and Abatement Law," requiring city or county attorneys, and permitting individual citizens, to close by injunction, houses used in whole or in part for purposes of lewdness, assignation, or prostitution. This law permits the private citizen, by a suit in equity in the name of the state, to close by injunction a house of prostitution when weak-kneed public officials fail to enforce the law.30

27 Solicitation laws exist in Colo., Conn., Del., Ga., Ill., Kan., La., Maine, Md., Mass., Minn., Mont., Nev., N. J., N. H., N. M., N. Y., N. C., N. D., Ohio, R. I., Utah, Vt., Va., Wash., Wis., and such laws should be amended in Colo., Ga., Ill., Kan., La., Mass., Minn., Mont., Nev., N. J., N. M., Utah, and Wash., to apply to both sexes. No law exists in Ariz., Ala., Ark., Cal., Fla., Iḍa., Ind., Iowa, Ky., Mich., Miss., Mo., Neb., Okla., Pa., S. C., S. D., Tenn., Tex., W. Va., and Wyo.

28 Outside the states enumerated in Note 21, and Ind., Neb., N. Y., and S. D., such a law is made applicable only to bawdy-houses. In Ind., Neb., N. Y., and S. D., it should be amended to cover all places, structures, or conveyances. Such a provision is needed in all other states.

29 This is made an offense in all the states enumerated in Note 21. No such law exists in Ariz., Ark., Ky., Ore., Pa., S. C., Tenn., and W. Va. The law in the following states should be amended to include both sexes: Ala., Cal., Colo., Fla., Ga., Ida., Ill., Iowa, Kan., La., Mass., Mich., Minn., Miss., Mo. (also all places), Mont., Neb., Nev., N. J., N. M., N. Y. (also all places), Okla., Tex., Utah, Va., Wash., Wyo.

30 Laws of this general nature exist in 39 states and 2 territories. The essential elements which should be contained in all such laws should be:

(a) Both Injunction and Abatement. (The latter is needed in the Tex. and Tenn. laws.)

LEGISLATION FOR THE REPRESSION OF PROSTITUTION

3. The so-called "White Slave Law" or "Compulsory Prostitution Law." This is a law directed against the panderer, the procurer, the madam who detains a girl in a house of prostitution, and one who transports another within the state for immoral purposes. It also reaches the pimp or other person who receives any of the proceeds of prostitution or who lives on the earnings of a prostitute.31

4. A law or ordinance requiring all transient hotels and roominghouses to be licensed annually; providing for their supervision and the revocation of license upon violation of laws against prostitution; requiring that a proper register of guests be kept, etc. This has proved to be one of the most effective and easily enforced measures against prostitution wherever tried.32

5. A law or ordinance licensing taxicabs, dance halls, skating-rinks, and other forms of coinmercial amusements, and providing for supervision and revocation of licenses where such taxicabs or places are used for purposes of lewdness, assignation, or prostitution.32

6. A law making statutory rape apply to both sexes, so that prostitutes and other lewd women will be restrained from catering to young boys. 88

7. A law providing for the expeditious removal from office of any municipal or county official who neglects or refuses to enforce these laws. This is commonly known as the Ouster Law and is embodied in Form No. 5 (See p. 65.)34

(b) That suit may be instituted by any resident citizen. (Amendments of this nature are needed in Maine, N. H., N. Y., and Tenn.)

(c) No bond should be required by citizen-plaintiff. (Amendments relative to this feature are needed in Ala., Ind., Maine, N. H., N. D., Ohio, Tenn.) (d) No notice should be necessary before filing complaint. (Amendments of this nature are needed in Me., N. H., Pa., S. C., Tenn., Utah.)

(e) The injunction should be granted as a matter of course when a continuance is asked by defendant. (Such provisions needed in Cal., Kan., Mass., N. Y., Pa., Tenn., Tex., Wash., Wis.) The word "knowingly" should be stricken from the N. Y. laws. See p. 58 for model law.

31 Entire white-slave laws are needed in Ga., Miss., S. C. (Amendments are needed in Conn., Fla., Iowa, Kan., N. M., N. C., Ohio, Okla., Tenn., and Tex. to make the acceptance of the proceeds of prostitution, or living off the earnings of a prostitute an offense.)

32 This law should be recommended for state legislative enactment, only in states in which the legislative powers of municipalities are not broad enough to permit the passage of an ordinance on this subject.

33 A similar law has been enacted in Washington.

34 Similar laws have been enacted in Conn., Mich., N. M., N. Y., Okla., Ohio, R. I., S. C., Wash., and Wis.

XII

STANDARD FORMS OF LAWS

Before these forms are introduced as bills, they should be carefully examined by an attorney in the state concerned, in order that such changes may be made therein as will bring them into harmony with the legal usage and procedure in that state. Additional copies may be obtained from the American Social Hygiene Association, 105 West Fortieth Street, New York City.

FORM NO. 1

STANDARD FORM OF LAW for the RePRESSION OF PROSTITUTION SECTION 1.

35

That from and after the passage of this act it shall be unlawful: (a) To keep, set up, maintain, or operate any place, structure, building, or conveyance for the purpose of prostitution, lewdness, or assignation;

(b) To occupy any place, structure, building, or conveyance for the purpose of prostitution, lewdness, or assignation, or for any person to permit any place, structure, building, or conveyance owned by him or under his control to be used for the purpose of prostitution, lewdness, or assignation, with knowledge or reasonable cause to know that the same is, or is to be, used for such purpose;

(c) To receive or to offer or agree to receive any person into any place, structure, building, or conveyance for the purpose of prostitution, lewdness, or assignation, or to permit any person to remain there for such purpose;

(d) To direct, take, or transport, or to offer or agree to take or transport, any person to any place, structure, or building, or to any other person with knowledge or reasonable cause to know that the purpose of such directing, taking, or transporting is prostitution, lewdness, or assignation;

(e) To procure or to solicit or to offer to procure or solicit for the purpose of prostitution, lewdness, or assignation;

(f) To reside in, enter, or remain in any place, structure, or building, or to enter or remain in any conveyance, for the purpose of prostitution, lewdness, or assignation;

(g) To engage in prostitution, lewdness, or assignation or to aid or abet prostitution, lewdness, or assignation by any means whatsoever.

35 It is suggested that the jurisdiction of municipal courts in cities of a population over 50,000 be increased, if need be, to include such offenses as are embraced in the Vice Repressive Law. Otherwise, it is suggested that such jurisdiction be given to the county or other intermediate criminal court.

SECTION 2.

FORM 1-REPRESSION OF PROSTITUTION

That the term "prostitution" shall be construed to include the giving or receiving of the body for sexual intercourse for hire, and, shall also be construed to include the giving or receiving of the body for indiscriminate sexual intercourse without hire. That the term "lewdness" shall be construed to include any indecent or obscene act. That the term "assignation" shall be construed to include the making of any appointment or engagement for prostitution or lewdness or any act in furtherance of such appointment or engagement. SECTION 3.

That in the trial of any person charged with a violation of any of the provisions of Section 1 of this act, testimony of a prior conviction, or testimony concerning the reputation of any place, structure, or building and of the person or persons who reside in or frequent the same and of the defendant shall be admissible in evidence in support of the charge.

SECTION 4.

That any person who shall be found to have committed two or more violations of any of the provisions of Section 1 of this act within a period of one year next preceding the date named in an indictment, information, or charge of violating any of the provisions of Section 1 of this act shall be deemed guilty in the first degree. That any person who shall be found to have committed a single violation of any of the provisions of this act shall be deemed guilty in the second degree.

SECTION 5.

(a) That any person who shall be deemed guilty in the first degree, as set forth in Section 4, shall be subject to imprisonment in, or commitment to, any penal or reformatory institution in this state for not less than one nor more than three years; provided, that in case of a commitment to a reformatory institution the commitment shall be made for an indeterminate period of time of not less than one nor more than three years in duration, and the board of managers or directors of the reformatory institution shall have authority to discharge or to place on parole any person so committed after the service of the minimum term, or any part thereof, and to require the return to the said institution for the balance of the maximum term of any person who shall violate the terms or conditions of the parole.

(b) That any person who shall be deemed guilty in the second degree, as set forth in Section 4, shall be subject to imprisonment for not more than one year; provided, that the sentence imposed, or any part thereof, may be suspended, and provided further that the defendant may be placed on probation in the care of a probation officer designated by law or theretofore appointed by the court upon the recommendation of five responsible citizens.

(c) That probation or parole shall be granted or ordered in the case of a person infected with venereal disease only on such terms and conditions as shall be recommended to the court by the state or local health department in order to insure medical treatment therefor and prevent the spread thereof, and the state or local health departments may order any convicted defendant to be examined for venereal disease.