[Original question from Chris Doss]
Stupid question:
OK, prostitution is illegal in the States.
Prostitution is being paid to have sex with a client.
Now, porn actors/actresses are also paid to have sex
with other porn actors/actresses. Why is being a porn
actor legal and being a prostitute isn't?
[/Chris]
Actually, not a stupid question at all....but a simple answer.
Prostitution involves a direct exchange of money for sex in which the buyer/client expects direct sexual favors in exchange for cash. Historically, that has been illegal under pandering and solicitation statutes.
Porn, on the other hand, does not involve such a direct exchange because the buyer of porn is NOT expected to engage in sex with the actors or models involved (other than induced masturbation or sex with other persons watching with him). The models are paid to produce a film in which they have sex with other actors (or with themselves), NOT with the clients directly. Therefore, it is not considered solicitation.
Although, during the height of the Meese Commission on Pornography days during the 1980s, the Los Angeles Police Department had engaged in the tactic of targeting porn studios and production companies for arrests and prosecution using the state's existing pandering laws....but, although they were able to scare a few people out of the business through threats of more stringent prosection under the RICO (Racketeering Influences and Corrupt Organizations) statutes, they were not so successful in court because of that very difference mentioned above.
Also, because of the First Amendment protections for legal private adult sexual expression (only child pornography is expressedly prohibited under Federal and state law in terms of private consensual behavior), it is much harder to prosecute porn on mere charges of obscenity or indecency alone.... which is probably why most antiporn censors rely mostly on either mechanisms to prohibit its sale -- such as red-lining businesses to prohibit adult stores from operating close to schools or chruches or other sensitive locations, or using the ruse of protection from "kiddie porn" or the excuse of "fear of easy access for children" to impose stringent recording and identification requirements for the actors and producers involved (such as the controversal 2257 federal regulations); or simply targeting companies which allow their airwaves and bandwidth to include sexually explicit material (such as the Internet or cable/satellite TV).
OK..not so simple...but hopefully you get the idea.
:-)
Anthony