Get Caught Picking up a Hooker - Lost Your Vehicle
October 24, 2006 · By H. Cameron
Alberta is getting tough on johns who pick up prostitutes,
A new provincial law allowing Alberta police to seize the cars of people soliciting sex trader workers comes into effect on Monday.
First-time johns can get their cars back after performing community service, but those who get caught more than once could see their vehicles seized by the province and auctioned off.
GayandRight thinks is all about harrassing men, however this leads me to believe this law might work,
An anonymous questionnaire that was circulated to 67 men at the john school while the law was still being proposed found that 52 of them said the vehicle law would deter them from soliciting.
Near the end of the article, was this amusing tidbit,
However, McCartney said there is consensus in the hatred of sex trade workers for their customers.
“They are absolutely disgusted by johns,” she said. “They hate what the johns do to them, so any time there’s some kind of penalty for a john, that’s good.”
Hey, I’ve got an idea, if you hate what you do and the john’s that employ your services, don’t do it. Novel idea isn’t it?
I have a couple of problems with this, from what I’ve read.
First, an accused’s car is ceased immediately, and then they get it back “once the matter is resolved in court”. Which means, if you’re found not guilty, you get your car back.
Eventually.
AFTER the trial.
Great.
What this essentially means is, if you’re innocent, the police keep your car until you prove in a court of law that you are innocent. So the assumption of innocence goes right out the window, doesn’t it? You’re punished, by having your car taken away, and we’ll stop punishing you, if you can prove you’re innocent in a court of law.
Now, some will say that “John School” is an alternative, to let you get your car back right away. And that’s great and all. Except you get “sentenced” to “John School” AFTER you plead guilty.
So, the accused is in an awkward position indeed. Plead guilty to the crime you’ve been accused of, and you can have your car back. Plead not guilty, and we’ll keep your car while the case goes to trial (have fun taking the bus around town looking for a lawyer!).
Essentially, the law is punishing you right away. If you plead guilty, the state will stop punishing you. If you fight the charges in court, we’ll keep punishing you until a court determines you’re not guilty.
Seems to me, people who are truly guilty will plead, avoid jail, and get their cars back right away.
People who are actually innocent will fight the charges in court, lose their car right away and have it kept from them while the trial goes forward, and risk jail if they lose despite their innocence.
Johns WILL probably be detered.
I have a feeling the only people who will end up being PUNISHED though are people wrongfully accused of soliciting. And I’m disturbed that the two ways they have to end the punishment is to prove their innocence in court, or give in and plead guilty.
That’s not right.
Typical. Attack the symptom, not the cause. Why is it that the PROSTITUTES are not punished? They are the dealers, aren’t they?
I’ve always found it odd that people caught buying drugs are always thought of as ‘victims’, yet guys caught buying sex are simply criminals. Funny how that is.
“Hey, I’ve got an idea, if you hate what you do and the john’s that employ your services, don’t do it. Novel idea isn’t it?”
What you fail to address, or understand, is that a very large percentage of women / men in the sex trade “industry” are actually victims of trafficking (i.e. immigrant / aboriginal women who were brought to Canadian cities under false pretences and forced into prostitution). Many of these women (most of them underage) are kidnapped from home (the reserve or abroad) and end up in “massage parlors” or on the streets.
Therefore, if you were forced to have sex with men and then were unable to keep all of the “profits of your labour”, you probably wouldn’t like Johns too much either.
So what this regulation does is get Johns out of neighborhoods, but does not address the larger issue of extortion and human trafficking that feeds the sex trade.
Just a thought.
In other words, the police punish you for engaging in vice crimes by perpetrating a property crime against you (stealing your car). Fascinating. I remember when Alberta was a place where property was respected, if not held as sacred.
Alberta planning to seize vehicles of people soliciting sex from prostitutes. Solution: Send Alberta prostitutes to support Dutch troops in Afghanistan.
what about the charter of rights and freedoms… innocent until proven guilty… so ok the johns shouldnt be picking up prostitutes but they are not breaking the law, thats what the prostitutes are doing…and isnt it a violation of their rights to be taking away their property? and what about their families, yes, what they’re doing is wrong but adultry is not a crime.