(gg)

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - People who solicit
prostitutes in Oakland, California, could find their
faces plastered on billboards under a new shaming
program that one civil rights group calls bad public
policy.

The city of 400,000 across the bay from San Francisco
started putting up billboards on Wednesday showing men
arrested for soliciting sex. Other signs invite
prostitutes to quit by calling a help line.

"This idea came out of just thinking about new ideas,
doing something to deal with this increasing problem,
especially with the exploitation of underage women,"
said Oakland City Council President Ignacio De La
Fuente, who champions the approach.

The photos on the billboards were partially blurred so
the men are not easily identifiable. But in the future
photos might be displayed unaltered, an aide to De La
Fuente said.

Critics say the technique -- which De La Fuente said
has been used in Texas -- recalls medieval public
humiliations.

"It doesn't seem to us to be appropriate for Oakland
to be using shaming as an additional and extrajudicial
punishment to single out this group of offenders,"
said Alan Schlosser, legal director of the
American Civil Liberties Union for Northern
California. "We don't think this is good public
policy."

Some newspapers have long printed the names of those
soliciting sex for money, and courts have backed
punishments that include shaming. Last year a U.S.
federal appeals court allowed a punishment in which a
mail thief had to wear a signboard telling of his
crime.

__________________

The practice of putting women on pedestals began to die out when it was discovered that they could give orders better from there.~ Betty Grable

If I wanted your opinion, I'd remove the duct tape and ask you for it.~ Me
<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>
One man's dream is another man's nightmare~~~~> §¤ Lilith ¤§
~>My Scribbles<~
==>Gone Shopping<== ~Just a Quickie~ *~A Celebration Vacation~* ~Surprises~ Sleeping With the Window Open
What Did You Do Today? Self Defense Class ~Short Sweet Snippets~ § Summer Spin § Story Challenge Submission Pajamas

This is an outrage!!!!!


What's next, making them wear a sandwich board?

__________________
Though I am different from you,
We were born involved in one another.

For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul.

Complete surrender should not just come at moments in which one faces overwhelming odds, but in the calm when it seems one is personally in complete control of one's life.

Certainly the scarlet letter will be next...

__________________
Plug me into somethin'

If the theory does not conform to the facts, then the facts must be discarded.

No good deed ever goes unpunished

Never argue with an idiot. He'll drag you down to his level, & beat you with experience.

Are the pictures of the prostitutes also shown ...



... along with their phone numbers?

I can see something like this happening somewhere else,but Oakland California? This type of news prompted me to renew my ACLU membership.

__________________
Sex is one of nine reasons for reincarnation.The other eight are unimportant...Henry Miller

Lil, what's your source on this? This seems absolutely unbelieveable. No way in hell the ACLU will ever let that happen.