Prostitution elevated to a felony in IL?
I suspect you are referring to HB6195 that makes various prostitution offenses that are now misdemeanors into felonies. There is another bill that is currently before the legislature, HB6462, which also concerns sex crimes but it is concerned with closing loopholes that exist in the current law (for example, pimping involves taking money from a prostitute, but under current law you can avoid the pimping statue by having the customer give the money to the pimp directly). HB6462 does not change generally change the criminal level of prostitution offenses (i.e from misdemeanor to felony). Neither of these bills has been passed as a law as of yet but are under consideration in the legislature. If you want to lobby your legislature to oppose a law, then I suppose that HB6195 is the one of greater concern since HB6462 is primarily directed at various service providers.
At any rate, you should be aware that under current law, prostitution offenses that occur within 1000 feet of a school ground are felonies. That means if you get busted at an MP that is operating within 1000 feet of a school ground, you could get hit with a felony charge.
One other point that I might add is that you can get hit with a felony charge for prostitution offenses as a customer under current law even if you are not in the vacinity of a school ground. What HB6462 does is make it easier for you to get hit with a felony charge. For example, under current law, you can think of a prostitution transaction as having two parts: a solicatitation part (where you solicit the service) and a patronizing part (where you get the service). Under current law, you can get hit with two separate counts: one for solicitation and one for patronizing. This would allow a prosecutor to pursue a felony charge for a first time prostitution offense (I might add that repeat offenders can get hit with a felony charge for a second single charge).
So as you see, under current law it is rather difficult to get a felony charge against a customer for a first time offense. But HB6462 would allow a prosecutor to file a felony charge for the solicitation part or the patronizing part of the transaction.
As a disclaimer, I have not listed all possibilities under which a customer can get charged with a felony but enough to give you an idea that a felony charge is a possibility. For more details about you actual legal rights you would be better served by consulting an attorney who practices this kind of stuff.
[QUOTE=Pluto2]I read somewhere that IL is going to make prostitution into a felony. Anyone know about this?
I guess this will create more work for the police union, the prison guards union, the connected contractors who build prisons, the mandated union construction workers, the lawyers union BAR assoc, and the politicians can demand more contributions from all of the above.
Talk about a lot of pimps to support.[/QUOTE]
Too broke to pay attention
Complaint of the day: The economy still sucks, my paycheck's been downsized, my "entertainment budget" is nonexistant and Stupid hasn't been out to play since July. My right hand's about ready to take out a restraining order on him.
Mitigation for the Complaint of the Day
The holidays are coming. Buy your partner a new pair of soft leather gloves and a nice bottle of hand lotion. Get a name brand, not a generic. Your partner will be deeply moved, drop the threats of a restraining order, so you can continue to maintain the nice close relationship until the economy improves. Remember you have two partners, so give your primary partner a break occasionally by giving your other partner some of your special attention. Just remember to keep your 'hand' in the game until you can get back out there again.
Use your effing turn signal!
Going home from work. Had several bottles of wine-empty, of course, in my car. I like to have a few on the drive home. Anyway, car's following me, which I don't like cause of the glare, so I pull over to the curb to let him pass. Next thing I know, LEO's pulling me over. Scared the shit out of me cause I had all those empty bottles in my car. I've already played the DUI game and it's no fun. LEO takes my license and proof of insurance; then after a few minutes-while I'm shitting brinks-he comes back and says "use your turn signal". Then I'm on my way. The sigh of relief can still be heard as I write this!
Anyway, mongers, the whole point of this story is to do as is written in the "Rules for Street Mongering"! Drive like you're a preacher on your way to a Sunday sermon, especially when you're on the prowl!
