Patronizing prostitutes in Seattle just got a bit more expensive. Today, the city council approved a proposal to slap johns with $150 fine to pay for counseling services for prostitutes and their clients.
One of the proposal’s biggest supporters is City Attorney Tom Carr, who was quoted in the Seattle Times today touting the new “john school” program. “What Seattle is trying to do is to really help the true victims of the crime,” Carr told the Seattle Times. “which are women who are driven by drug addiction or alcohol addiction or mental illness.”
But Carr hasn’t always been such a staunch supporter of the john school and may have even had a hand in derailing a push for a similar program—designed to reduce recidivism—four years ago.
In a 2005 email exchange with staff in City Council Member Nick Licata’s office, it’s apparent that Carr wasn’t buying into a push for a john school. “In my view, the low recidivism rate for johns suggest the arrest and contact with the criminal justice system is enough of a deterrent,” Carr wrote, adding in another email that “I don’t oppose fining johns and using the money to help the real victims of their crimes. I just don’t believe that a [john school] is worth the effort.”
“His opposition was a very heavy damp rag,” says council member Nick Licata, who also proposed a similar program in 2005. “If the city attorney says [the program’s] not useful, his opinion carries a lot of weight.”
Carr says that in 2005—when Licata was initially pushing the program—he wasn’t convinced the john school would have an impact on recidivism rates.
Over a ten-year period, Carr says, he only found 7 repeat offenders out of about 1,000 cases. However, Carr acknowledges that it’s tough to track prostitution cases across the county and state. “Someone we catch in Seattle may take their business to Sea-Tac,” he says.
Carr says his change of heart came in the last six months after he read a study out of California, which shows john schools do in fact have a significant impact on recidivism.
“I don’t think we should just do a program because other people are doing it. It’s got to have a purpose,” Carr says. “I think I was wrong.
Some of the Chicks on Craigslist are pretty hot. Spare me the typical bullshit about addicts and crazy bitches.
The comments section in the Seattle Time article has a surprisingly libertarian majority posting to it. Maybe Seattle’s culture is better than I give it credit for.
@1: remember, a LOT of clients get victimized too, and CL ERS, which does have ads from legit providers, is also an incredibly dangerous place. If you do go there, please also use the internet to keep you safe. Review boards are a great backup to the anarchy of CL.
“Patronizing prostitutes in Seattle just got a bit more expensive.”
I think I’d pay LESS for a patronizing hooker. Who wants to deal with that?
Contrdictory and stalling actions and he disagrees with past opinion on his arguement.
If I hadn’t just sent some serious charges to Senator Eric Oemig this would be trivial except for this…
Seattle City Parks and harrassment go together hand and hand with poor regional oversite in a failing budget of concerns unattended by the City Attorney office until it suits their purpose.
Metro will be charged ( or a private group) with child prostitution “trolling” soon if I get my way.
Further more The NTSB and The News Tribune Story today about the plane crash in Butte Montana is either a tradgic accident for real, a movie stunt or a stall by publishing powers and possibly the City of Seattle Attorney office to answer charges that I found serial number plane engine part verification information in the Seattle Public Library that embarrassed or is embarrassing to the post 9-11 Bush Administration, and the partisan politics post Obama Election are having a very hard time swallowing it because they don’t take my personal note books seriously.
Seattle’s War on Heterosexuals continues…unabated.
danielbennettkieneker, are you actually dr. bronner? how old are you now?
Jonah, your headlines are getting really good. Proud of you!
@6 DILUTE! DILUTE! OK!
Tom Carr had a change of heart when he realized he was running for re-election.
If you get arrested they already keep your evidence money as a donation to this kind of program (not to mention your other fines you pay, lawyers fees, etc). The Johns are getting fined twice for the same “cause” and getting busted can easily cost a John $3K.
@10: not to mention in many cases their careers and families too.
In the not to distant past, cops would nail gay men for soliciting sex in bars. No money or anything different than what “normal” straight people would do. Soliciting gay sex could get you arrested and fined.
Arresting people for sexual intent is a long tradition that’s always good for elections. Sexual minorities, and by that I mean people whose sexual activity is not generally approved of, are great fodder for that sort of thing.
@11, Heterosexual men who aren’t getting enough sex aren’t exactly a sexual minority. Perhaps it’s more, ‘We have to suffer and so shall you.”
So, instead of just legalizing prostitution and collecting taxes that way… they keep it illegal but slap more fees on it and collect taxes that way.
They don’t want to stop prostitution, they just want more tax revenue from it. But legalizing it would upset the vast majority of ignoramuses in the country. So they’re doing it under the table with a *wink wink, nudge nudge* “john school”
The gullibility of Americans is disgusting.
All it means is the johns are going online to get sex. Whenever the city starts to “tout” a program that involves normal adult sexual behavior, call bullshit on it.
Who would’ve thought. Carr changed his mind on something based on evidence? Amazing.
Where does one find a good prostitute anyway?
@16 I would suggest you start with the classified ads of The Stranger.