Victimless Crimes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Victimless Crimes - Essay Example A good example of this train of thought is taken from a Speech at Cornell Law School One needs to completely rid oneself of the voracity for cash to see that prostitution, although legalized, can never be a legitimate business because it will always be associated with crime, corruption, class, mass sexual exploitation and human trafficking." Most commonly the list of activities and conduct proscribed by most repressive legal structures include, prostitution, obscenity, nudity, and incest, erotica (pornography), and sodomy (consensual oral or anal sexual activity). The philosophical basis of this dichotomy of views is profound. To the libertarian side the individual and his or her rights are paramount. Its absolutist position is presented right clearly in the National Platform of the Libertarian Party (adopted at its July 2002 convention in Indianapolis, Indiana) "http://www.lp.org/issues/platform/victcrim.html", which includes, in regards to consensual sexual activity, the language: Victimless Crimes - Because only actions that infringe on the rights of others can properly be termed crimes, we favor the repeal of all federal, state, and local laws creating 'crimes' without victims. In particular, we advocate: the repeal of all laws regarding consensual sexual relations, including prostitution and solicitation, and the cessation of state oppression and harassment of homosexual men and women, that they, at last, be accorded their full rights as individuals; the repeal of all laws regulating or prohibiting the possession, use, sale, production, or distribution of sexually explicit material, independent of "socially redeeming value" or compliance with "community standards Prohibition Curiously enough the prohibitionist side can count under its banner two groups that we might ordinarily considered to be at odds, upholders of traditional religious morality and insurgent feminist ideologues. It is within the categorical dichotomy between these two viewpoints that we must examine to discover a reasonable reply to the primary question given. In our society the traditionalist view posits the society as paramount, the entity calling for the most dignity, respect and consideration. In this way the argument goes a loosening of sexual restrictions will lead to the destruction of traditional marriage and the unleashing upon society of hordes of unattached males who, as everyone knows, are only interested in "one thing". It is particularly in regards to the question of prostitution that this idea is most prominent. The reasoning goes like this: why would a man stay with support and protect a single woman, with all the disadvantages that such behavior entails when he could be free to follow his instincts and enjoy himself without consequence. This viewpoint goes further to claim that the family structure is the primary bulwark of society itself, and therefore prostitution should be prohibited. The feminist take on this approach is a question from and