A federal judge has recently dismissed a lawsuit filed in California seeking to legalize prostitution in the state. The U.S. District Court Judge handling the lawsuit noted that prostitution is not protected under the U.S. Constitution.
In a report by ABC News, the judge, Jeffrey White, has dismissed the lawsuit as he noted that the relationship between a prostitute and his or her client is not protected by the due process clause of the U.S. Constitution unlike that of marriage and other "enduring personal bonds."
White also said that not agreeing to legalize prostitution and continuing to criminalize it will continued to serve legitimate government interests in promoting public safety as well as preventing injury and coercion, Salon reported. He also said in his statement that the argument that the prostitution ban interferes with the freedom of speech and the right to earn a living is not applied to illegal activities.
The judge added that the relationship between a client and a prostitute does not involve intimacy as opposed to marriage and other kinds of relationships. He cited a 1988 ruling by the federal appeals court in San Francisco noting that the relationship between a paid escort and a client possesses few of the aspects that an intimate association has. Also, it lasts for a short period and "only as long as the client is willing to pay the fee."
The lawsuit was filed last year by a San Francisco-based group called Erotic Service Provider Legal, Education & Research Project, which is composed of current and former sex workers as well as a would-be client. The lawsuit named the California district attorneys and the state's attorney general as the defendants. They said in their lawsuit that they are seeking to empower the erotic community and "advance sexual privacy rights," SF Gate reported.
White has given the group an opportunity to revise their lawsuit but D. Gil Sperlein, the attorney for the group, said they are not sure if there will be amendments but they are assuring that an appeal will be filed regarding the decision. California has been upholding a ban on prostitution for 144 years now.
