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Maine Democratic Gov. Janet Mills on Monday signed into law a bill that partially decriminalizes prostitution, with supporters saying the measure protects the most vulnerable while still targeting those who exploit them.The bill, sponsored by Rep. Lois Reckitt, D-South Portland, eliminates the crime of engaging in prostitution. It also elevates the crime of solicitating a child for commercial sexual exploitation, lifting the crime from a misdemeanor to a felony with a maximum punishment of five years in state prison.Reckitt, the longtime director of Family Crisis Services in Portland and an advocate for women suffering from domestic abuse, said the bill will help people pushed into sex trafficking by desperate circumstances. ...
Maine's Legislature Passes Bill To Partially Decriminalize ProstitutionElizabeth Nolan Brown | 6.8.2023 9:42 AM REASONMaine lawmakers are on track to partially decriminalize prostitution. A bill sponsored by state Rep. Lois Galgay Reckitt (D–South Portland) would remove criminal penalties for selling sex in some circumstances. The measure passed the state Senate on Wednesday after passing the House on May 30. But sex worker rights advocates say the bill doesn't go far enough.The bill would not simply decriminalize consensual prostitution altogether. Rather, it would rechristen prostitution as commercial sexual exploitation, defined as "providing, agreeing to provide or offering to provide a pecuniary benefit to anotherperson to engage in a sexual act or sexual contact." That means anyone who pays or attempts to pay a sex worker would still be committing an illegal act.Essentially, the Maine measure would institute what's known as "asymmetrical criminalization" or the "Nordic Model" of prostitution laws, a scheme criminalizing people who pay for sex but not totally criminalizing those who sell it. This model has become popular in parts of Europe and among certain strains of U.S. feminists. ...
Essentially, the Maine measure would institute what's known as "asymmetrical criminalization" or the "Nordic Model" of prostitution laws, a scheme criminalizing people who pay for sex but not totally criminalizing those who sell it. ..
So how is that not entrapment?Pennsylvania tried that trick with fireworks sales for a long time. Eventually, a couple years ago, they fully legalized them.
