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Mar. 12th, 2008 04:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trinityvixenThis section says it all:
When society has effectively legalized something that is still theoretically illegal, there is always the possibility of selective prosecution—targeting individuals who are in disfavor with someone in government. Selective prosecution is tyranny, and the possibility of selective prosecution is a powerful argument for legalization of the behavior that the society has chosen to condone.
I haven't been able to find such succinctness in my own expression of why I dislike the idea of running Spitzer out of office on a prostitution charge (for the other things--Mann Act and structuring, let him hang as he will). This is the best I've seen it explained.
I happen to be not exactly in favor of legal prostitution but definitely in favor of at least selecting against criminalizing prostitutes (i.e. the Swedish "punish the john, not the desperate woman" system), so this is a cogent argument for this as well.
When society has effectively legalized something that is still theoretically illegal, there is always the possibility of selective prosecution—targeting individuals who are in disfavor with someone in government. Selective prosecution is tyranny, and the possibility of selective prosecution is a powerful argument for legalization of the behavior that the society has chosen to condone.
I haven't been able to find such succinctness in my own expression of why I dislike the idea of running Spitzer out of office on a prostitution charge (for the other things--Mann Act and structuring, let him hang as he will). This is the best I've seen it explained.
I happen to be not exactly in favor of legal prostitution but definitely in favor of at least selecting against criminalizing prostitutes (i.e. the Swedish "punish the john, not the desperate woman" system), so this is a cogent argument for this as well.
