Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski told 60 Minutes that about 1% or over 20,000 innocent people are in federal prison. "That's a lot of people!" The number is almost definitely higher and yet many federal judges aren't doing as much as Kozinski to check the executive. And boy do we need a strong judiciary right now with AG Sessions.
We should have our U.S. Attorney nominee this week. It will be interesting to see if that person is willing to stand up to Trump/Sessions or whether they will go back to the old ways where there is limited discovery, no exhibit lists, etc. etc...Read more
8 comments:
Anonymous said...
"And boy do we need a strong judiciary right now with AG Sessions."
Federal judges already have lifetime tenure. What could be stronger? Immortal tenure? One problem, there is no separation of powers between the judiciary and the DOJ. The DOJ is executive in name only. In fact the judiciary and the DOJ are both staffed by lawyers - all officers of the court - the all part of the judiciary.
10:20 AM
Anonymous said...
"DOJ is executive in name only"? What? Because lawyers work for DOJ? I don't see the logic.
1:54 PM
Anonymous said...
The old way of no discovery and no exhibit lists? That's the current practice.
5:15 PM
Anonymous said...
@ 1:54 PM
Lawyers are neither ordinary workers nor highly skilled professionals. Lawyers admitted to a regulatory bar are "officers of the court" and part of the judicial branch of government. Ex parte Garland, 71 U.S. 333 (1866). As a lawyer admitted to a regulatory bar, AG Sessions is an "officer of the court" and part of the judicial branch of government.
Is this separation of powers ever violated? Yes, all the time. Welcome to dysfunction in government. Unfortunately the DOJ is a lawless, unconstitutional abomination, in my opinion. Recall the US Attorney General (Lynch) privately meet on the tarmac the husband (Bill Clinton) of the person being investigated by the FBI (HRC). Lawyers helping lawyers. DOJ is executive in name only.
The practice of law is a profession the purpose of which is to supply disinterested counsel to others using independent professional judgment. So long as lawyers work as counsel to the DOJ, that's fine. Lawyers admitted to the practice of law are officers of the court and part of the judicial branch of government; such lawyers cannot be part of the legislative or executive branch.
Historically, "The Office of the Attorney General was created by the Judiciary Act of 1789 (ch. 20, sec. 35, 1 Stat. 73, 92-93), as a one-person part-time position..." https://www.justice.gov/about
"However, the workload quickly became too much for one person, necessitating the hiring of several assistants for the Attorney General. As the work steadily increased along with the size of the new nation, private attorneys were retained to work on cases." That is the answer to separation of powers question for an executive branch DOJ. (established in 1870 by ch. 150, 16 Stat. 162, "the 1870 Act"). An executive department, headed by an executive who is not an "officer of the court" (and part of the judicial branch). The executive could be someone with a law degree who is not admitted to practice, that would preserve separation of powers. The executive head of the DOJ would then retain private attorneys/private law firms to work on cases. The result would be a much better functioning DOJ, decentralized, a DOJ that might protect, and not abuse, the rights of the citizens of the United States.
Anonymous said...
3:19 AM
First of all, 3 am? Really? Who is this? President Trump?
Second, you sound like the crazy tax protestors.
Finally, facts are facts:
"The Department of Justice is an executive department of the United States at the seat of Government." 28 U.S.C. § 501
"The President shall appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, an Attorney General of the United States. The Attorney General is the head of the Department of Justice."
28 U.S.C. § 503
8:49 AM
Anonymous said...
@8:49 AM
Thanks for making my point. 28 U.S. Code § 501 - Executive department, is executive in name only (including USC designation) and found under, Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.
"Two law firms earned more than $1B to help US pursue banks
Posted Oct 21, 2016 09:27 am CDT
By Debra Cassens Weiss
The National Credit Union Administration paid two law firms more than $1 billion in fees and expenses to help recover more than $4 billion from banks in cases related to faulty subprime mortgages.
The U.S. agency sued the banks to recover money for failed corporate credit unions that lost money holding residential mortgage-backed securities, the Am Law Daily (sub. req.) reports.
Kellogg Huber Hansen Todd Evans & Figel was paid $506.3 million, and Korein Tillery was paid nearly $504.8 million. The contingency agreement by the law firms gave them 25 percent of net recoveries.
NCUA board chairman Rick Metsger defended the contingency arrangement in a statement, according to the Am Law Daily. "Without this fee arrangement, which shifted most of the risk of these legal actions to outside counsel, there would have been no legal investigation of potential claims, no litigation and no legal recoveries," he said."
The foregoing would reduce costs to the government by using contingent fee agreements, and "help recover more than $4 billion from banks in cases related to faulty subprime mortgages."
If you are a lawyer, would your firm like to earn $1 billion in fees?
The U.S. DOJ will not even try to recover billions from banks in cases related to faulty subprime mortgages because, inter alia, the U.S. DOJ is a political agency that is generally unwilling to upset the banks and lending institutions that run the government of the United States.
If I were President Trump, I would have started to implement the forgoing already. While President Trump is a fellow Wharton School alumni, I do not agree with most of his policies.
I was a candidate for president in the 2016 election, see SC16-2031.
I would scrap Obamacare in favor of either single payer healthcare, such as the business case for single payer FixItHealthcare, or Physicians for a National Health Program, the Expanded & Improved Medicare for All Act, or what congress used to get, see the links below.
Regarding the 60 Minutes story and shortage of execution drugs, so long as the death penalty is upheld as constitutional, the U.S. Supreme Court needs a compounding pharmacy within its walls to make the killing cocktails. A Justice could then certify the contents of the lethal drug doses...
Judge Kozinski has a point about advocating for the firing squad or even the guillotine as a means of carrying out a death sentence. It was wrong of our government to try and turn executions into a type of ghastly medical procedure.
8:02 AM
Corrected: Former FBI director James Comey told the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday that he took steps to get his version of a meeting with the president to the news media, believing that doing so might trigger the appointment of a special counsel.
Comey said he wrote memos summarizing his interactions with President Donald Trump because he feared Trump would lie about the nature of the meetings.
In those meetings, Trump asked Comey for loyalty and said he hoped Comey could let go of the investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s contacts with Russia, Comey said in prepared testimony for the committee.
After his firing, Comey leaked one of those memos to a Columbia law professor and asked him to share its contents with a reporter, Comey said. Daniel Richman confirmed he was the professor in an email to the Wall Street Journal.
A New York Times story about Trump’s Flynn request, based on the memo, appeared May 16, the New York Times reports.
Comey leaked the memo after his May 9 firing. The Washington Post says Comey’s revelation about his desire for a special counsel was "a remarkable admission showing the degree of concern he had about both Russian interference with U.S. politics, and his doubts about the Justice Department’s ability to probe such activity."
Comey implied in his testimony that any tapes of his conversations with Trump would verify his version of events. "I’ve seen the tweet about tapes. Lordy, I hope there are tapes," he said.
Comey was referring to a May 12 tweet by Trump that said, "James Comey better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!" Trump tweeted after a New York Times report that Trump had asked Comey to pledge his loyalty to the president.
After the president tweeted, Comey said, he decided he needed to get the information out in the public square. He asked the law professor to share contents of the memo with a reporter "because I thought that might prompt the appointment of a special counsel," Comey said, according to a "rushed transcript" by the FiveThirtyEight blog.
In his initial statement to the committee, Comey defended the FBI and his leadership of the bureau. Comey said he was confused and concerned about shifting explanations given for his firing.
The Trump administration, he said, chose to defame him and the FBI by asserting the organization was in disarray and the workforce had lost confidence in its leader. "Those were lies, plain and simple," Comey said.
"The FBI is honest, the FBI is strong. And the FBI is and always will be independent," Comey said.
Comey said President Donald Trump gave another explanation for his firing when he told a reporter he was thinking of the "Russia thing" at the time; Comey said he took the president at his word. "It’s my judgment that I was fired because of the Russia investigation," Comey testified. The Associated Press emphasized Comey’s assertion in its coverage.
"I was fired in some way to change, or the endeavor was to change, the way the Russia investigation was being conducted," Comey said.
But when asked if Trump had sought to stop his investigation into Russian interference with the election, Comey said, "Not to my understanding, no."
In his prepared testimony, Comey said Trump told him at a private dinner in January that wanted loyalty from him. "I need loyalty, I expect loyalty," Trump reportedly said.
Comey also said Trump told him during another meeting that Flynn hadn’t done anything wrong in calls with the Russians. "He is a good guy and has been through a lot," Trump reportedly said. "I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go. Read more
Fired FBI director James Comey said in prepared congressional remarks that President Donald Trump told him "I need loyalty, I expect loyalty" during a private dinner in January.
Trump told Comey during another meeting at the Oval Office in February that former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn hadn’t done anything wrong in calls with the Russians, according to Comey’s remarks.
The Washington Post has a report and a link to the testimony (PDF), prepared for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
Comey said in the remarks that he expected other people to be present at the Jan. 27 dinner, but he and Trump were alone. Comey said he was uncomfortable, even before Trump asked for loyalty, so he told the president he was not "reliable" in the way politicians use the word. But he could always be counted on to tell the truth.
When the president said he needed loyalty, "I didn’t move, speak or change my facial expression in any way during the awkward silence that followed. We simply looked at each other in silence," Comey said.
At one point, Comey’s testimony said, he explained why it was important that the FBI and Department of Justice be independent of the White House. But the president raised the loyalty issue again near the end of the dinner, saying "I need loyalty," according to the prepared remarks.
Comey said he replied, "You will always get honesty from me." Trump responded, "That’s what I want, honest loyalty."
The Oval Office meeting occurred on Feb. 14 after a counterterrorism briefing, Comey said in the remarks. Trump said he wanted to speak to Comey alone. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and adviser Jared Kushner lingered, Comey said, but the president said he wanted to speak only to Comey.
Trump said Flynn had done nothing wrong by speaking to the Russians. But Trump had to let him go because he misled the vice president. "He is a good guy and has been through a lot," Trump reportedly said. "I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go."
Comey said he replied only that Flynn "is a good guy."
Comey said he understood the president to be requesting that the FBI drop any investigation into alleged false statements Flynn made about his conversations with the Russians. "I did not understand the president to be talking about the broader investigation into Russia or possible links to his campaign," Comey said.
In a March 30 phone call, Trump told Comey that the Russia probe was a "cloud" hanging over his ability to lead the country, according to Comey’s account. Trump reportedly said he had nothing to do with Russia and had not been involved with hookers there. Trump reportedly said it would be good to find out if "satellite" associates of his had done something wrong. But he hadn’t done anything wrong, and he hoped Comey could get out that information.
"I responded that we were investigating the matter as quickly as we could," Comey said, "and that there would be great benefit, if we didn’t find anything, to our having done the work well. He agreed, but then re-emphasized the problems this was causing him."
Trump finished the conversation by stressing that the cloud was interfering with his ability to make deals for the country, and he hoped Comey could find a way to let people know he wasn’t being investigated. "I told him I would see what we could do, and that we would do our investigative work well and as quickly as we could," Comey said.
Comey said he first assured Trump he was not under investigation during a Jan. 6 briefing. Trump raised the issue at the January dinner and said he was considering ordering Comey to investigate salacious, unverified allegations involving Trump and Russia to prove the incident didn’t happen, according to Comey.
Comey said he replied that the idea should be given careful thought because it might create a narrative that the FBI was investigating the president personally, which it wasn’t, and because it is difficult to prove a negative. Read online
Valerie Scott always wanted to be a sex worker and has extensive experience in her chosen profession. She is a founding member and legal co-ordinator of Sex Professionals of Canada, a sex worker rights organization. She has been a passionate advocate for her colleague’s human, civil, and legal rights for the past 30 years. She has testified at Canada’s Senate and at several Parliamentary committees. She has spoken at numerous community meetings, colleges, universities, and conferences about the humanity of sex workers and the need for full decriminalization of adult sex work. Read more
Second year law student, Christine Reade quickly finds herself drawn into "The Girlfriend Experience" world, attracted to the rush of control and intimacy. The new STARZ Original Series from Executive Producer Steven Soderbergh, "The Girlfriend Experience" premieres Sunday, April 10. Christine Reade (Riley Keough) is a second year student at Chicago-Burnham Law School and a new intern at the prestigious firm of Kirkland & Allen. Working hard to establish herself at the firm, her focus quickly shifts when a classmate introduces her to the world of transactional relationships. Known as GFEs, they are women who provide "The Girlfriend Experience"—emotional and sexual relationships at a very high price. Juggling two very different lives, Christine quickly finds herself drawn into the GFE world, attracted to the rush of control and intimacy. Read more
My Roommate's An Escort | Comedy Series | Season One Trailer
My Roommate’s an Escort follows the misadventures of Heather, a non-confrontational, small town girl from Sault Ste. Marie, as she tries to figure out whether her new roommate Kesha is an escort.
My Roommate's an Escort is an original Canadian comedyweb series created, written by and starring Katie Uhlmann and Trish Rainone.[1] All 11 episodes of the first season are directed by Uhlmann, and the series premiered on YouTube on April 3rd, 2017. Rainone plays a non-confrontational, small-town girl living in Toronto who suspects her new roommate Kesha, played by Uhlmann, is a call girl.
Background: My Roommate's an Escort was written by Katie Uhlmann and Trish Rainone. Uhlmann and Rainone met at a mutual friend's party and bonded over similar ideas about creating "strong female-driven content." The series went from concept to completion in twelve months.[2] A preview for the series debuted at the 2017 Toronto Short Film Festival.[3]
Plot: Each episode opens with the same intro, establishing the house where most of the series is set. The same music plays for the intro and outro. Heather, a girl from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, now living in Toronto, finds a new roommate online, Kesha, who may or may not be a private escort. Heather passive-aggressively tries to find out more about Kesha, unintentionally getting dragged into her world and the sketchy characters who inhabit it. In each episode, Heather retreats to vent at her one place of solace, a tattoo shop. Read more
Jane Taylor* has a lot of things to worry about when her husband is deployed. Will he come home alive? Will her kids see their dad again? But until last month, "Will he slip up and sleep with a taxpayer-funded sex worker?" wasn’t one of them.
Like many military wives, Brisbane, Australia, resident Jane was horrified to read Australian army Capt. Sally Williamson recommending prostitutes be sent to the front line to help "relieve stress" in serving troops.
In an essay titled "Sex and War – A Conversation Army Has To Have" published on an official Australian Defence Force website last month, Williamson suggested the army "contract Australian male and female sex workers to service troops in forward operating bases and air bases."
Williamson said sex on deployment could help ease the stress of "loneliness or prolonged absence from family, friends, partners and spouses" as well as make it easier to cope with living and working in a war zone.
"Improved intimacy and sexual interaction can help combat veterans with PTSD recovery," wrote Williamson, who is currently serving in the Middle East.
In Australia, it should be noted, sex work is legal, although each state in the country regulates it differently. Read more
ABA Journal Daily News ByDebra Cassens Weiss Posted May 16, 2017 10:57 am CDT
Jurors in Denver have awarded a woman $1.7 million in damages in her privacy invasion suit against a Colorado lawyer who exposed her secret life as a prostitute.
Suspended lawyer Sean Saxon was found liable for revealing Jerene Dildine’s work to her family members and classmates, CBS 4 reports.
Dildine told the television station that she began working as a prostitute when a divorce and a cutback in her work hours created financial problems. Saxon became one of her clients in November 2013, and soon they became romantically involved.
But Saxon didn’t like Dildine’s work as a prostitute and he became angry and violent at times, Dildine said. Dildine said she broke off the relationship, but Saxon stalked her and threatened to expose her. Eventually he carried through on the threat.
Saxon says she was depressed and considered suicide. She contacted lawyer Tom Overton, who helped her file an ethics complaint against Saxon and filed the civil suit on her behalf.
Saxon had represented himself in the trial and claimed his revelations were protected by the First Amendment.
Saxon was fired in 2014 from the Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell law firm, where he handled pharmaceutical and medical device litigation, after the firm learned of Dildine’s allegations, according to a report by an ethics hearing board. He pleaded guilty to violation of a protective order in January 2015 for continuing to send texts to Dildine and was sentenced to two years’ probation.
"The evidence is irrefutable," the hearing board concluded. "Dildine suffered considerable injury—emotional, physical, and reputational—at [Saxon’s] hands."
The hearing board imposed a three-year suspension in November 2016, and Saxon appealed to the Colorado Supreme Court.
Saxon provided this statement to CBS 4: "I am deeply sorry I became involved with Jerene Dildine, most of all because I betrayed my family. I profoundly regret much of the language I used in my communications when I exposed Ms. Dildine as a prostitute to people who know her. All the material I sent was true and was taken from Ms. Dildine’s own marketing materials that she placed on the internet and sent to her clients to promote her business. I am appealing the jury’s decision. I do not believe that Ms. Dildine should be allowed to recover damages because of embarrassment over having her illegal conduct exposed."
Headline updated to clarify that it was a verdict. Read online
DENVER (CBS4) – A Denver district court jury awarded a former escort $1.7 million in damages last month after concluding that one of her clients, a high end Denver attorney, was guilty of outrageous conduct and invading the woman’s privacy by "outing" her to her family, friends and colleagues.
"I just feel like this was the final battle and I won," said Jerene Dildine, 44, who agreed to tell her story to CBS4 hoping it helps other women in similar situations. "I almost killed myself over being ashamed. I want other people to know you don’t have to die from shame."
The attorney who was found liable in the Dildine case, Sean Saxon, told CBS4 he plans to appeal the jury verdict.
Dildine told her story to CBS4 in a series of interviews. She was a teacher working in area public school systems, primarily teaching Spanish. But in 2013, with fewer teaching hours, rising housing costs and a recent divorce that hurt her financially, she said she began searching Craigslist for part time work and decided to try bikini modeling to supplement her income. On one modeling job, she said the client asked her if she would exchange sex for money.
"I did it," said Dildine. "And it was a very easy transition into that."
Using an alias, she created a profile on a prostitution website offering sex for $300 per hour. Read more
_________________________________________________
Editorial by Neil J Gillespie For the Justice Network
Sex workers are human beings not so different than you. It is time to legalize, regulate and tax the escort/sex trade. Let’s make these folks legitimate workers in our society. If you ever watched porn, you hired sex workers. Think about that. Sex workers need a living wage, healthcare, workers comp insurance, and retirement benefits, just like other workers. It is time to end the moral panic. See "Someone you love could be a sex worker", by Valerie Scott, on TEDxToronto. For Florida prostitution laws, see the Florida Statutes, Chapter 796 Prostitution.
UPDATE: After listening more closely to sex worker and advocate Juno Mac, I believe decriminalization and self-determination is a viable alternative to legalization and regulation. It is time to set aside the MORAL PANIC and have a national discussion about the sex industry.
From YouTube: "Everyone has an opinion about sex work, but what does sex worker Juno Mac think? Juno takes us through four different legal models addressing the sex industry and explains why they -- and sex workers around the world -- believe decriminalization and self-determination are the only way to keep sex workers safe. An activist with the Sex Worker Open University, Juno campaigns for better working conditions by fighting criminalization and is involved with public education projects around issues relating to sex worker rights."
Note: While this information deals with legal issues, it does not constitute legal advice. If you have specific questions related to the information available here, you are encouraged to consult an attorney who can investigate the particular circumstances of your situation. I am not a lawyer; I am not licensed to practice law; and I did not go to law school. Read my disclaimer.
From YouTube: "Valerie Scott is a Sex Worker & Advocate. Valerie Scott always wanted to be a sex worker and has extensive experience in her chosen profession. She is a founding member and legal co-ordinator of Sex Professionals of Canada, a sex worker rights organization. She has been a passionate advocate for her colleague's human, civil, and legal rights for the past 30 years. She has testified at Canada's Senate and at several Parliamentary committees. She has spoken at numerous community meetings, colleges, universities, and conferences about the humanity of sex workers and the need for full decriminalization of adult sex work."
A federal appeals court has upheld a California law that criminalizes prostitution in a First Amendment challenge.
The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the prostitution ban Wednesday in a suit claiming violation of First and 14th Amendment rights to freedom of association, a 14th Amendment due process right to earn a living, a 14th Amendment due process right to sexual privacy, and a First Amendment right to free speech.
The suit was filed by three prostitutes, a potential client and an advocacy group for sex workers called the Erotic Service Provider Legal Education and Research Project. They had cited the 2003 Supreme Court decision Lawrence v. Texas that struck down a criminal ban on sodomy.
The 9th Circuit said sex for pay isn’t the kind of intimate conduct protected by Lawrence v. Texas, a case that did not involve prostitution.
Freedom of intimate association extends to "highly personal relationships," and not to the transactional relationship between a prostitute and client, the court said. Nor does prostitution qualify as protected commercial speech, according to the court. And there is no right to engage in illegal employment, the court said.
The court cited several justifications for the law, including a link between prostitution and trafficking, violence to women, illegal drug use and sexually transmitted diseases.
The suit’s claims "may yet convince the California legislature to change its mind. But this court cannot change its mind for them," the court said in an opinion by Judge Jane Restani.
Restani, a judge of the U.S. Court of International Trade, was sitting by designation. Read more
Mann Act, Wikipedia. The White-Slave Traffic Act, or the Mann Act, is a United States federal law, passed June 25, 1910 (ch. 395, 36 Stat. 825; codified as amended at 18 U.S.C. §§ 2421–2424)... It was amended by Congress in 1978 and again in 1986 to apply to transport for the purpose of prostitution or illegal sexual acts.[2] Read more
Moral panic is a situation in which public fears and state interventions exceed the objective threat posed by an individual or group who is/are claimed to be responsible for creating it. Central to the concept is an argument that public concern or fear over an alleged social problem is mutually beneficial to state officials, politicians, law enforcement and news media. Read more
The women of the Bible are far more than just characters of ancient stories. They help to reflect and construct our ideas and attitudes about femininity and female sexuality.
The much-maligned Magdalene
Like Eve, the New Testament character Mary Magdalene has been the subject of centuries of bad press. Magdalene is often believed to be a prostitute although there’s no suggestion of it in the biblical text. Academics have argued that the early Church developed Mary Magdalene’s repentant prostitute persona as a bid to deny women a proper position in the church hierarchy.
Since then, a number of attempts have been made to "rehabiliate" the character from her reputation as a fallen woman. Melvyn Bragg, for example, has certainly put some time into discovering the "real Magdalene", presenting a controversial Good Friday documentary in 2013 and a radio programme on BBC Radio 4 earlier this year. But despite the reams of research and hours of media coverage, including the heightened interest in the Gospel of Mary following the success of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, our fascination with the "penitent sinner" remains.
The discussion around Mary Magdalene, however, says more about cultural attitudes to female sexuality than anything about the biblical character. The persistent idea that sex workers are "fallen" women who should be rehabilitated or repentant has only relatively recently been challenged and the controversy surrounding Mary Magdalene speaks to centuries of the dominant ideology that shapes values around female sexuality and stigmatises sex workers on a moralistic premise.
Mary, Mary, quite contrary
"On the other hand, Mary, Mother of Jesus, is considered by many Christians as the "ideal woman". As a virgin mother, Mary has the ultimate appeal to female respectability, combining the most culturally valuable female roles. But discussions surrounding the "ideal femininity" of Mary, Mother of Jesus, are inextricably linked with the control of female sexuality evidenced in attitudes to Mary Magdalene. The construction of "female virtue" is a cultural dividing practice to reinforce the social boundaries between respectable and unrespectable groups and classes." Read more
"A lot of people think it's about sex. [...] But it's about power. I was reading the Murakami book The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, where she goes into this guy's mind by making him fantasize about her, so it's kind of like powerplay. As soon as a woman does anything, they seem to hit a nerve and it's back to sex. At least men seem to think that."[4] Read more
Don't pull your pants, before I go down
Don't turn away, this is my time
Don't make demands, I don't take none
Just say a prayer that it gon' get done
Don't pull your pants before I go down
Don't turn away, this is my time
Like a shotgun needs an outcome
I'm your prostitute, you gon' get some
Like a shotgun needs an outcome
I'm your prostitute, you gon' get some
When Germany legalised prostitution in 2002 it triggered an apparently unstoppable growth in the country’s sex industry. It’s now worth 15 billion euros a year and embraces everything from 12-storey mega-brothels to outdoor sex boxes. Nisha Lilia Diu visits some of them to find out who won and who lost. Read more
Thomson Reuters Foundation By Lin Taylor Thursday, 18 May 2017
"People think less of girls who are prostitutes. But when you're a street prostitute, they think even less of you"
COPENHAGEN, May 18 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - In a dark tunnel in Copenhagen's red light district on a freezing night, Annika gasped for air as the stranger who agreed to pay her for sex started suffocating her with his bare hands.
A friend nearby heard her muffled cries and helped the 25-year-old Dane break free from the man's grasp. Annika, who declined to reveal her full name, said it was the fourth time in a year that she nearly died at the hands of her clients.
"If you don't give them what they want, even though it is not what you agreed in the beginning, some just snap," said Annika, who sold sex for nearly a year to pay for her drug addiction but quit the industry eight months ago.
"People think less of girls who are prostitutes. But when you're a street prostitute, they think even less of you," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation on a street corner in Vesterbro, Copenhagen's red light district.
Studies show that sex workers in Denmark are violated or threatened by customers about 31 percent of the time while working the streets compared to only three percent in brothels, according to the Danish National Centre for Social Research.
For while prostitution is legal in Denmark, it is illegal to profit from other people selling sex, such as pimping, or to rent rooms to sex workers, which means prostitutes can end up having sex in places like parks, alleyways, behind parked cars and telephone booths.
This can put sex workers in danger from some clients and passers-by, according to rights groups, who are concerned that migrant or trafficked women are especially vulnerable as they are often afraid to report violence or assaults to the police.
A 2009 study by TAMPEP, the European Network for HIV/STI Prevention and Health Promotion among Migrant Sex Workers, estimated migrant workers make up about 65 percent of sex workers in a list of European countries, including Denmark, where there are high numbers from Nigeria and Thailand.
Annika said she reported her attack to the police but they dropped the case because she had no visible marks on her body.
"It made me feel like I didn't matter to anyone," she said. Read more
American Sexual Health Association (ASHA). ASHA was founded in 1914 in New York City, formed out of early 20th century social reform movements focused on fighting sexually transmitted infections (known then as venereal disease, or VD) and prostitution. Now, more than 100 years after its creation, ASHA remains America’s nonprofit authority for sexual health information. Read more. ASHA on Wikipedia
Managing Herpes: Living & Loving with HSV, by
Charles Ebel and Anna Wald, M.D., M.P.H., is an essential resource for
anyone looking for more information on herpes. An estimated one million
people in the U.S. are infected each year with genital herpes. Though
most are initially unaware of the infection, those diagnosed may face
difficult questions about how they acquired herpes and how to manage it.
Managing Herpes provides a balanced perspective on medical and emotional issues. Read more
The STD Project is an independent website and progressive movement eradicating STD stigma by facilitating and encouraging awareness, education, and acceptance through story-telling and resource recommendations. We are taking steps toward modern-day sexual health and prevention by advocating for conscientious and informed decisions.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Voters rejected a ballot measure requiring actors use condoms in all porn movies made in California.
Proposition 60 lost 54 to 46 percent early Wednesday with 99 percent of more than 8 million votes cast.
The so-called Safer Sex in the Adult Film Industry Act would have also required that porn producers be licensed by the state and pay to have their actors regularly tested for sexually transmitted diseases.
It also held anyone with a financial interest in a porn film responsible for violations, with fines ranging from $1,000 to $70,000.
Any California resident who witnessed a violation could have sued a filmmaker if state officials didn’t act promptly on their complaint.
Much of the U.S. porn industry is based in Los Angeles, and some prominent producers have said passage of the measure would force them to leave the state. Read more
Proponents say the statewide condom law would curb STD rates among performers, so why are so many porn stars against it?
California's Prop 60 would protect performers from STDs – but will it kill the adult industry in the state?
UPDATE: Proposition 60 did not pass in California, losing 54 to 46, the AP reports.
Thirty-year-old porn star Ela Darling is one of the most vocal opponents to Proposition 60, a new set of California regulations advocating for safer sex in the porn industry. Tall, thin, with long blonde hair and an all-American cheerleader spirit, Darling has appeared in more than 200 adult films. Originally from Texas, she graduated from college, got a masters degree and worked as a reference librarian. Bored, she started appearing in nude bondage photo shoots and realized she really enjoyed it. Not only that, she could make a ton of money. So she moved to California to work in porn full-time.
Now, as head of the company Cam4VR, Darling is one of the leading voices in VR porn community. She sees Prop 60 as another frustrating example of what those in the porn business call "captain save a ho" – when outsiders see adult film performers as victims, and try to regulate the industry without the workers’ input.
"There is this infantilizing rescue rhetoric that they use to imply that we are these hurt, damaged souls that need to be protected from the big, bad producers," Darling says. "But nobody takes better care of ourselves than we do."
Most American-made porn is still filmed in California, meaning the law – which according to a recent L.A. Times poll, 55% of Californians currently support – could have a huge impact on the billion-dollar adult entertainment industry, and the look of modern porn. If passed, Darling warns, Prop 60 could open performers up to new levels of harassment, and even drive the industry out of California. But public health advocates maintain that elevated STD levels among performers mean it's time for the state to step in and start actually regulating adult-entertainment shoots.
Since the 1970s, L.A. County's San Fernando Valley has been home to America's billion-dollar adult film industry. And following a state court case in 1989, porn production is considered legal to film in all of California. But despite its legal status, the business has rarely been subject to any state or federal regulations.
But then in 2003, after an L.A. Times article exposed health risks for adult film performers, many in the public health community became invested in preventing the spread of STDs on porn sets. Following a heated political battle, in 2012, voters in L.A. County passed Measure B, a law that explicitly states that performers are required to wear condoms in adult films and register their shoots. Backed by the AIDS Health Care Foundation, a public health advocacy group, the law also makes L.A. County responsible for enforcing the rule. Read more
Prevent STDs like a porn star CNN - Cable News Network By Elizabeth Cohen CNN Senior Medical Correspondent May 19, 2011 9:23 a.m. EDT
While hooking up with a new co-star can provoke some anxiety, there's one
thing they're usually not anxious about: getting a sexually transmitted
disease from their co-star, since both get tested for STDs at least once
a month.
"Before you start shooting, you go online to see the other person's test results," Wylde explains. "Or sometimes on set, before you start, they show you the results on paper."
Such diligence about STDs is a good idea for anyone having sex with a new
partner, even if you're not a porn star, says Dr. Craig Strafford,
director of clinical research at the Holzer Clinic in Gallipolis, Ohio. Read more
