TheBoobHound
11-23-15, 20:50
We should make an effort to make prostitution legal in Massachusetts. This is a state with 'direct democracy,' which means that citizens can create initiative petitions which are placed on the ballot during elections and voted on. It's unlikely that any elected official would ever soil his reputation by introducing legislation to legalize prostitution. However, in other states, groups have successfully used ballot initiatives to legalize a different vice, marijuana, which similarly would never have been touched by a politician. Let's follow this method and make prostitution legal here. I sincerely believe that, if it was put to a vote, it would pass.
It is too late to get it on the ballot for the 2016 election. However, we can still get started planning for the next one. Here is some information about the process:
http://www.mass.gov/ago/government-resources/initiatives-and-other-ballot-questions/initiative-petition-process.html
There are many details to work out:
We need to hash out exactly what the wording of the initiative will be and how it will work. I have a lot of ideas for this. We might also need a lawyer to turn it into real 'legal-ese. '.
We need someone who isn't afraid of having their name attached to the initiative to be the public point of contact and have their name listed on the attorney general's website (see this for some examples: http://www.mass.gov/ago/government-resources/initiatives-and-other-ballot-questions/current-petitions-filed.html).
We also need 10 people to be the 'original voters' on the initiative, and also have their name attached to the petition.
After doing this, we need people to gather up about 70,000 signatures. This means getting people to sign the petition, in person. Now, the names of the signature-gatherers are not public, but it does mean that people will see you collecting signatures and will associate you with the initiative. So you if you volunteer for it, you may want to do the signature collection in an area far from where you live if you are squeamish about your reputation.
There's much more that could happen, but these are enough thoughts to start the discussion.
It is too late to get it on the ballot for the 2016 election. However, we can still get started planning for the next one. Here is some information about the process:
http://www.mass.gov/ago/government-resources/initiatives-and-other-ballot-questions/initiative-petition-process.html
There are many details to work out:
We need to hash out exactly what the wording of the initiative will be and how it will work. I have a lot of ideas for this. We might also need a lawyer to turn it into real 'legal-ese. '.
We need someone who isn't afraid of having their name attached to the initiative to be the public point of contact and have their name listed on the attorney general's website (see this for some examples: http://www.mass.gov/ago/government-resources/initiatives-and-other-ballot-questions/current-petitions-filed.html).
We also need 10 people to be the 'original voters' on the initiative, and also have their name attached to the petition.
After doing this, we need people to gather up about 70,000 signatures. This means getting people to sign the petition, in person. Now, the names of the signature-gatherers are not public, but it does mean that people will see you collecting signatures and will associate you with the initiative. So you if you volunteer for it, you may want to do the signature collection in an area far from where you live if you are squeamish about your reputation.
There's much more that could happen, but these are enough thoughts to start the discussion.