Ebb and flow, as it's always been
[QUOTE=TomMcAn;6838652]I see your point, although things are working out reasonably well for the time being here in Fairfax County as a whole. The current Commonwealth's Attorney doesn't seem to consider the hobby a top priority of his, and he was overwhelmingly re-elected last November. Of course, that could change if there's a serious incident or there's more pressure from the feds. In the end, it will probably take a judge striking down prostitution laws as they pertain to consenting adults to begin an effort at major reform of laws regarding the hobby.[/QUOTE]One prosecutorial regime assigns a lower priority to hobby-policing but nothing constrains the next regime from cracking the whip! And the patchwork of city, county, state, and federal jurisdictions and interests just adds more confusing elements to the enforcement landscape.
And, while it's nice to hope some judge could get the ball rolling, the judiciary isn't a substitute for an elected legislature. Legislatures can enact all kinds of restrictive laws which, unless they clearly violate the Constitution, will not be overturned by judges. Laws against prostitution are the norm in 99.9% of the US. And those laws don't prohibit consensual adult behavior, they just criminalize turning such behavior into a commercial business transaction. Consider that laws prohibiting possession of marijuana reached all the way into a person's home, even if that person's actions weren't affecting anyone else. It took legislative action to change that, and the same holds true for prostitution laws, IMO. I wish I could be more optimistic, but I'm not holding my breath.