I read a news article some time ago about officers who investigate suspected prostitutes by going undercover and purchasing their services. The article noted that this practice is controversial. Some agencies apparently don’t allow it, deeming it unnecessary and dehumanizing; others allow brief sexual contact but then require the officer to desist; and still others allow officers to engage in extended sexual contact. Similar issues arise when officers use informants to procure sexual services. A premise of the article was that there is no legal impediment to such practices, but the actual legal landscape is more mixed. This post provides more nuance.
prostitution
Is It Illegal to Make Pornography in North Carolina?
Lawyers Weekly ran a brief article a couple of months ago about the above question. The article is here, behind a paywall. What follows is my own analysis of the issue. Obscenity. The first issue, and the only one addressed by Lawyers’ Weekly, is whether making pornographic movies would violate the obscenity statutes. Specifically, G.S. … Read more
NC Prostitution Changes
2013 NC legislation, S.L. 2013-368, overhauled the state’s prostitution offenses. It repealed G.S. 14‑190.18 (promoting prostitution of minor), 14‑190.19 (participating in prostitution of minor), 14‑204.1 (loitering for prostitution), 14‑205 (prosecution of offenses), 14‑207 (degrees of guilt), and 14‑208 (punishment). Additionally it rewrote every other provision in Ch. 14 Article 27 save one (only G.S. 14-206 … Read more