DC Madam Could've Been Saved

Yes, the title is a bit provocative, but it is the sad truth. Prostitution is illegal in most of the United States because politicians have refused to learn a lesson or two about the economics of prohibition. A great deal of urban violence stems from the heavily-interwoven illegal drug and prostitution trades. Additionally, entire lives, such as that of the "DC Madam" Deborah Jeane Palfrey, have been ruined by the prohibition of civilization's oldest profession.

It is truly sad that she resorted to suicide in order to avoid the jail time she'd surely have faced for running a prostitution ring; but none of this would've happened if we had only learned the lessons of history and economics, and realized the negative consequences of banning a victim-less mutual exchange simply because it's morally reprehensible.

Economic logic tells us that the outright banning of a good or service results in an increased price and the driving of the services into an underground economy, which is - in the cases of the drug and prostitution trades - oftentimes marred by lower-quality goods and violent crimes (we've yet to take a lesson from the Prohibition Era or the ongoing War on Drugs). Prohibiting prostitution makes a crime out of a victimless act; an interaction in which no one's rights are violated. Yet the FBI wastes precious time and money investigating a victimless crime, instead of oh, you know, terrorists or mass murderers.

Politicians justify the prohibition of prostitution on the nebulous grounds of "family values" and upon the fallacy that banning it will somehow end the industry altogether. The economics of prohibition clearly shows that a ban does not result in anything close to an elimination of the service, and nowhere is it written in the Constitution that the government shall protect what it determines to be "family values." Indeed, it's not a stretch to suggest that inner-city violence issues we've created by banning prostitution and drugs have only hurt family values instead of protect them.

In the wake of Ms. Palfrey's unfortunate suicide, perhaps it is time to renew the debate over the government's abuse of racketeering, money laundering, bank monitoring, and other intrusive laws. It is time we discuss the repealing of such abusive and ultimately harmful anti-prostitution laws.

Whether or not you condone the act of prostitution, it is a victimless exchange that would undoubtedly be safer, cheaper, and disconnected from a shady underworld if it were legal like any other service. Politicians refuse to consider this. This is odd because politicians undoubtedly feel the hurt from anti-prostitution laws...in their wallets.