10-16-06
Should a person be imprisoned for no more than selling or buying sex? Phrasing the question in such a way unveils the true stakes involved in this type of issue. What kind of conduct should land a person behind bars? What kind of conduct, regardless of what one may think of it, should still be left to the individuals involved, without the intervention of the police power of the state? When couched in terms of individual freedom, the notion that prostitution, per se, should no longer be a punishable crime, becomes a palatable and even quite civilized alternative to the present system.
If we, as a society, really care about women, we will not only provide them with equal rights and opportunity, but we will stop turning some of them into criminals merely because they have chosen to exchange sex for money. Women, who, for whatever reason, choose to engage in prostitution, do not need to be incarcerated for their own good. The old argument of whether I would want my wife, daughter or sister to become a prostitute has nothing to do with the fact that women who do become prostitutes should not be thrown in jail.
This statement by Edward Tabash, a constitutional and civil rights attorney, published on the internet on a web site sponsored by the Freedom USA, underscores the importance of adopting today¡¯s debate resolution:
Resolve that: United States government should legalize prostitution.
In order to help better understand the resolution we offer the following definitions:
1. United States of Government - federal republic of individual states.
2. Legalize - process of removing a legal prohibition against something which is currently not legal.
3. Prostitution - the sale of sexual services for money or other kind of return.
The adoption of the resolution which mentioned above will be asked through the following