I read about a lot of state supreme court cases to see how every tiny detail is interpreted:
Pornography was illegal in all states if the actors were paid for doing the film. Payment for sex is illegal, even if a third party does the paying. It was only legal if they actors did not profit in it. This changed when the California Supreme court heard a case and changed it, so a third party can pay for the sex. Since then, California has been the p**rn capital of the US. Some people there try to get away with prostitution by filming it, though they need a convincing web site to prove a p**rn motive. Since then, the other 49 states amended their laws so the courts could not legalize it there.
Stripping: Paying someone to do sexual acts is illegal almost everywhere. Even if you have clothes on, or just pay someone to strip in front of you, it is considered a sexual act, as long as the intent is to arouse you and they appear to be paid for that purpose. You are guilty until proven innocent when it is the cops word against yours. Strip clubs get around this by saying it is a performance, art, and protected by freedom of speech. They play music, have disco lights, dance, and have a stage, which is different from a private, quiet dance in a motel room. The US supreme court decided that. Localities still limit it in many ways, and you are not allowed to touch the art with your hands since you are not the artist. If you hire someone to strip dance for you, you better have hard evidence that it was done in an artistic way, or you could get stung. Without hard evidence, the intent is your word against the cop's, and they will usually win, or you will spend a ton fighting them in court.
Prostitution is where you pay someone to do a sexual act. It can even be with clothes on. The litmus test is if the money was for that act, even if you don't specifically say it was. The court will look at the timing and other factors to figure it out, and believe the cops over you unless there is website evidence that you were not paying them to do that. It is legal to pay for a massage, and the worker can be naked. You can also hire a stripper to perform a show. It must be clear that is what the money was for, in writing. If the two consenting adults decide to have sex after that, that is not prostitution. But if you give them a tip afterwards, it can be construed as payment for the extra acts. But when advertising legal acts, some johns go to actual massage parlors and ask for sex, annoying the works there, which is why they ask the cops to crack down.
Escorts: They are selective about the wealth and legal smarts of the men they work for. They accept donations, which should be left on the table in plane sight without them asking for it. No negotiation is done, ever. Sex may or may not occur the first time, and will not occur if the man is rude. But if he is nice, she may feel comfortable and decide to have sex with him of her own consent. They want repeat customers, and get rated on websites. If either party does not follow those rules, the other will likely run, after she collected payment. It is like dating, but dating does not have a rating system, so more men are ripped off.
Vice cops are very good at trying to get someone to agree to an exchange, or be in a situation where it strongly looks like that is the intent. They can lie to johns, and use what they find as evidence even after lying. Johns can't tell them from prostitutes. Cops even wear fake, ugly teeth sometimes. As evidence, they will look at who the john contacted and how that person advertised it and how the john contacted them. Unless the person specifically states they do legal services, or the john says he wants legal services in writing, it will be his word against the cops. Most escorts want repeat customers, but only with smart ones, and not rude ones. If a john is rude or stupid, he will pay for nothing and be upset. He does not have to have sex to have committed a crime. Just appearing to agree to the exchange is all that is necessary to convict him. And stings are done on many websites, not just craigslist. Even if someone learns the rules, a jury will probably believe the cops again if he has a prior conviction.
Vice cops are not all bad though:
1. A lot of women are physically forced by pimps to strip or prostitute themselves, and then must give all their money to the pimps. It is hard to tell the pimps from body guards without looking at bank statements. But there are no bank statements since even consensual stuff is illegal. Going on an actual date with an escort before sex, far from her body guard, is a good way to figure out if she is a slave or independent. It will cost more, but is better.
2. Some of the stings are done with 12 year olds. That gets some scum off the streets.
3. Most prostitutes, except the highest priced, selective escorts, have stds, which can be spread from the customer to his unsuspecting partners who tested him the month before.
4. Street walkers lower property values.
And besides STDs, cops, and the possibility of paying a pimp to enslave a woman, some pimps find it faster to just rob the men and schedule 10x as many visits per hour. After all, why would a man who just did something illegal go report the theft to the police?
Pornography was illegal in all states if the actors were paid for doing the film. Payment for sex is illegal, even if a third party does the paying. It was only legal if they actors did not profit in it. This changed when the California Supreme court heard a case and changed it, so a third party can pay for the sex. Since then, California has been the p**rn capital of the US. Some people there try to get away with prostitution by filming it, though they need a convincing web site to prove a p**rn motive. Since then, the other 49 states amended their laws so the courts could not legalize it there.
Stripping: Paying someone to do sexual acts is illegal almost everywhere. Even if you have clothes on, or just pay someone to strip in front of you, it is considered a sexual act, as long as the intent is to arouse you and they appear to be paid for that purpose. You are guilty until proven innocent when it is the cops word against yours. Strip clubs get around this by saying it is a performance, art, and protected by freedom of speech. They play music, have disco lights, dance, and have a stage, which is different from a private, quiet dance in a motel room. The US supreme court decided that. Localities still limit it in many ways, and you are not allowed to touch the art with your hands since you are not the artist. If you hire someone to strip dance for you, you better have hard evidence that it was done in an artistic way, or you could get stung. Without hard evidence, the intent is your word against the cop's, and they will usually win, or you will spend a ton fighting them in court.
Prostitution is where you pay someone to do a sexual act. It can even be with clothes on. The litmus test is if the money was for that act, even if you don't specifically say it was. The court will look at the timing and other factors to figure it out, and believe the cops over you unless there is website evidence that you were not paying them to do that. It is legal to pay for a massage, and the worker can be naked. You can also hire a stripper to perform a show. It must be clear that is what the money was for, in writing. If the two consenting adults decide to have sex after that, that is not prostitution. But if you give them a tip afterwards, it can be construed as payment for the extra acts. But when advertising legal acts, some johns go to actual massage parlors and ask for sex, annoying the works there, which is why they ask the cops to crack down.
Escorts: They are selective about the wealth and legal smarts of the men they work for. They accept donations, which should be left on the table in plane sight without them asking for it. No negotiation is done, ever. Sex may or may not occur the first time, and will not occur if the man is rude. But if he is nice, she may feel comfortable and decide to have sex with him of her own consent. They want repeat customers, and get rated on websites. If either party does not follow those rules, the other will likely run, after she collected payment. It is like dating, but dating does not have a rating system, so more men are ripped off.
Vice cops are very good at trying to get someone to agree to an exchange, or be in a situation where it strongly looks like that is the intent. They can lie to johns, and use what they find as evidence even after lying. Johns can't tell them from prostitutes. Cops even wear fake, ugly teeth sometimes. As evidence, they will look at who the john contacted and how that person advertised it and how the john contacted them. Unless the person specifically states they do legal services, or the john says he wants legal services in writing, it will be his word against the cops. Most escorts want repeat customers, but only with smart ones, and not rude ones. If a john is rude or stupid, he will pay for nothing and be upset. He does not have to have sex to have committed a crime. Just appearing to agree to the exchange is all that is necessary to convict him. And stings are done on many websites, not just craigslist. Even if someone learns the rules, a jury will probably believe the cops again if he has a prior conviction.
Vice cops are not all bad though:
1. A lot of women are physically forced by pimps to strip or prostitute themselves, and then must give all their money to the pimps. It is hard to tell the pimps from body guards without looking at bank statements. But there are no bank statements since even consensual stuff is illegal. Going on an actual date with an escort before sex, far from her body guard, is a good way to figure out if she is a slave or independent. It will cost more, but is better.
2. Some of the stings are done with 12 year olds. That gets some scum off the streets.
3. Most prostitutes, except the highest priced, selective escorts, have stds, which can be spread from the customer to his unsuspecting partners who tested him the month before.
4. Street walkers lower property values.
And besides STDs, cops, and the possibility of paying a pimp to enslave a woman, some pimps find it faster to just rob the men and schedule 10x as many visits per hour. After all, why would a man who just did something illegal go report the theft to the police?
