76 arrested on prostitution charges in Craigslist sting

Cook County sheriff's police have arrested 76 men and women on prostitution-related charges in a sting involving the popular online classified site Craigslist.org. Undercover officers posed as customers who ...

[Frater Gregorius]

Seems Cook Co. must be awash in $$ if they can spend this much time and money pursuing people who are minding their own business. How much more discreet can one get--Craig's List!

Child abuse and soliciting under age people was secondary in this whole affair, and represents an entirely different set of issues. But when it comes to adults, please, leave people alone in these personal matters. You want to hire therapists for them, well that's fine. Just stop with the pointless harassment and baiting.

[yes]

a very good site!

[MarkMeld]

I think the Cook County police can find more important investigations to pursue than arrangements between consenting adults. Can't they use the tax money to
weed out corruption in city politics?

[John]

Does anyone actually believe that someone in Cook County or City of Chicago would be capable of effectively using our tax money on something that matters? If so, the joke is on you lol.

[IMHO]

Frater Gregorius wrote:

Seems Cook Co. must be awash in $$ if they can spend this much time and money pursuing people who are minding their own business. How much more discreet can one get--Craig's List! Child abuse and soliciting under age people was secondary in this whole affair, and represents an entirely different set of issues. But when it comes to adults, please, leave people alone in these personal matters. You want to hire therapists for them, well that's fine. Just stop with the pointless harassment and baiting.

brush your teeth, comb your hair, and learn to talk to women like an adult.

[[Child abuse and soliciting under age people was secondary in this whole affair]]

you're relying on pimps and hookers to moderate their behavior..."y'know, rooster, peddling in children and trafficking illegal immigrants is morally reprehensible. i demand that you restrict your business to consenting adults."

[IMHO]

MarkMeld wrote:

I think the Cook County police can find more important investigations to pursue than arrangements between consenting adults. Can't they use the tax money to weed out corruption in city politics?

...no.

[Jimmy]

Sweet. Lets put 5000 cops, put them undercover, take our tax money and flood the escort ads with them. Just imagine how much money we can make catching people! Then we put another 5000 cops all pretending to be fake drunken hobos wandering the streets, ticketing people for traffic violations. The next step is to have undercops going around selling marijuana to college kids, that'll show 'em that we're tough on drugs! Going after real criminals has just become too dangerous.

[Frater Gregorius]

IMHO--
Not sure I get your point. Do you think consenting sexual activity (including prostitution) should be regulated by the government? If so, why?

Or maybe I'm just misreading your comments.

[Jeff V]

Good for the Cook County Police. There's a term for people who knowingly break the laws -- "criminals". The fact that some people think there shouldn't be a law isn't an excuse to ignore it. If you care that much about prostitution being legal, either support candidates who'll fight for it or run for office yourself. This "Oh no, go after the other criminals" crap is weak; like the guys who cry when they get pulled over that the police should have been arresting someone else instead. If less people thought that they were above the "dumb" laws, there'd be more resources to handle the "real" stuff.

[kevin]

Selling services is legal.

Consentual sex between adults is legal.

And yet...

Wow. This is one stupid country.

[cynic]

You folks are so naive. I used to own taverns in Chicago, and cops were the worst offenders when it came to obnoxious drunken behavior, drug use, and associating with hookers. I always love the self-righteous statements cops make after these stings and sweeps..what a laugh! What a bunch of lousy hypocrites!

[kevin]

Hey Jeff, what weren't these cops doing while they were wasting time on an activity that is never going to stop for as long as humanity exists? Who is the victim here, that isn't a victim as the direct result of prostitution's prohibition?

Please think a little harder than "It is written." Legalized prostitution makes it safer for both parties, and every place in which it is implemented gives the women legal recourse and protection.

Not so under the nanny-state you apparently support. Get a real position that requires thought.

[Paul S]

I think Sheriff Tom Dart is smug.

[cynic2]

Oh look!..trying to stop a people from selling their bodies!!thats a shocker!!...People have been selling their bodies for centuries....do like they do here in Spain ...its illegal but not enforced....its never going away folks....what a waste of money again.

[cynic2]

agree with kevin

[Dart Board]

Since the massacre at Layne Bryant was solved so quickly it's good to know that law enforcement is focusing on the ladies of the evening.

[Conspiracy Man]

MarkMeld wrote:

I think the Cook County police can find more important investigations to pursue than arrangements between consenting adults. Can't they use the tax money to
weed out corruption in city politics?

I think you are wrong. Look at the papers and see that Chicago police have solved all of the other crimes and now they can focus on victimless crimes. I think it was clever to include a juvenile sting with the main sting so that they can deflect criticism against the entire investigation.

[ROger]

It is illegal to pay somebody for sex. But it is legal to pay for somebody for sex if you are filming it. They call it Gonzo style porn.

[Sarah]

Dart Board wrote:

Since the massacre at Layne Bryant was solved so quickly it's good to know that law enforcement is focusing on the ladies of the evening.

Since when was THAT in Cook County?

[eric m]

Jeff V wrote:

Good for the Cook County Police. There's a term for people who knowingly break the laws -- "criminals". The fact that some people think there shouldn't be a law isn't an excuse to ignore it. If you care that much about prostitution being legal, either support candidates who'll fight for it or run for office yourself. This "Oh no, go after the other criminals" crap is weak; like the guys who cry when they get pulled over that the police should have been arresting someone else instead. If less people thought that they were above the "dumb" laws, there'd be more resources to handle the "real" stuff.

I hear there's this cool movement called "civil disobedience" you might want to consider. Certainly a lot of "johns" don't consider themselves to be protesters, but they are. Choosing to ignore a law that one feels is unjust is an act of civil disobedience and if civil disobedience was good enough for Mohammad Ali and Martin Luther King, Jr., it should be good enough for any American.

If the cops were TRULY concerned about the law, they'd try to catch the johns who hire legal-aged women, too. But they didn't - they targeted women who had sex with legal-aged men, but only targeted men if they solicited people they thought were minors. That's a horrible, misogynistic, double-standard that could actually be illegal under the Illinois Constitutional equal protections.

But hey, go ahead and keep your simpleton opinions if you'd like.