Saturday, April 29, 2000
Plan to make prostitutes pay for 'shame ads' scrapped
By Earnest Winston
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HAMILTON — A city proposal to shame prostitutes and their customers by publishing their photos in a local newspaper has been scuttled because council cannot agree on how to pay for it.
City Council by a 4-3 vote Wednesday defeated an ordinance that would have given a municipal court judge authority to assess prostitutes and their customers a minimum mandatory fine of $75 each. That's on top of criminal penalties.
The money would have gone into a fund to help pay for the publication of the pictures.
Councilwoman Kathy Becker said she voted against the ordinance because she thinks it would publicize prostitution.
She added that, from her work in the mental health field, “We're finding more and more that the women that are out there have been either abused (or) have drug addictions.
“They're not doing this for the sake of making big bucks. They do this to feed their children or to do their
habit.”
Councilman Richard Holzberger, who voted for the ordinance, said the intent was not to “pick on the women.”
“This is an attempt to get rid of a problem. It's not only just prostitution or the soliciting act,” said Mr. Holzberger, a former Butler County sheriff.
“It's the other crimes that are related to it — burglary, theft, strong-arm robbery, armed robbery, venereal diseases, up to and including AIDS. This is what I'm trying to stamp out.”
Vice Mayor Thomas Nye, who also voted against the ordinance, said, “I do not see a benefit to our city (and) prospective businesses coming forward and seeing that we're parading our less fortunate in our community on the front page because they've had some mishaps in their life.”
City Manager Steve Sorrell said he would not use money from the city's general fund or the police general fund to publish the photos, unless council directs.
Council members Donald Ryan and Sharon Hughes also voted against the ordinance, while Mayor Adolf Olivas and Councilman George McNally voted in favor.
Council passed an ordinance two years ago authorizing the city manager to publish names and photos of people convicted of prostitution or solicitation.
No pictures have been published yet because of disagreement over which city department would pick up the tab. Under the ordinance, a photo would be published only after conviction and exhaustion of legal appeals.
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