San Francisco Voters To Decide Whether To Decriminalize Prostitution

It’s easy to forget with a Presidential election as exciting as this one that there are actually many, many, many people and bills on the ballot November 4th besides Barack Obama and John McCain. One of the issues that got our attention early is Proposition K, a San Francisco proposal that would decriminalize prostitution in the city. If passed, the law would forbid local authorities from investigating, arresting or prosecuting anyone for selling sex. The ballot measure still technically would not legalize prostitution since state law still prohibits it, but Proposition K would eliminate the power of local law enforcement officials to go after prostitutes. The local Democratic Party has endorsed the measure, but the majority of actual local government officials are opposed. A similar measure in Berkeley lost in 2006—while San Francisco is typically a liberal-leaning city, it’s pretty up in the air as to whether this Proposition will pass with voters. If it does, SF will become the first major U.S. city to decriminalize sex work. With that in mind, vote in our poll! [The Huffington Post]