Social networking sites have taken over as the new neighborhood block parties; except these parties are global and the most we can do in terms of a party is that of a virtual toast being made. Craigslist, Facebook, MySpace…they all have their draws. I have a better time of keeping up with my son through our Facebook accounts than I do in our daily ‘real’ lives. I just found out he got yet another speeding ticket…except I didn’t find out because he willingly volunteered this information; he just forgot I keep a close eye on his page. Needless to say, he’s about to embark on a few less than pleasant conversations. This, of course, is the lighter side (for some who manage to avoid speeding tickets, anyway) of these social networks. It’s the darker sides that are hitting the news.

This time, Craigslist is on the hot seat. With the recently dubbed “Craigslist Killer” finally being captured after having solicited women off of the popular site only to kill them in and around Boston, the spotlight’s now on the high number of ’sex for sell’ ads that seem to be plaguing its want ads. The problem is that Craigslist’s founders and their lawyers insist there’s no way to possibly monitor the millions of additions made to the site on a daily basis and further, they are in no way responsible for what people try buy or sell on their site, thanks to state laws. Besides, they say, they’re too busy scrambling to keep those who participate in human trafficking and crimes against children off of their sites.

In a recent post, there was a similar controversy involving a young woman who was auctioning off her virginity as a way to pay for her education. At first glance, one might wonder why it’s OK to auction off one’s first sexual act while it’s not OK to offer similar sexual services on another site. The difference is the woman auctioned her virginity within the state lines of Nevada, where prostitution is legal. Missouri’s not Nevada and these attempts to force Craigslist to rein in its ad monitoring (or lack of) is sure to become a legal quagmire like none other. A federal judge has been asked to step in and force Craigslist’s founders to completely eliminate its erotic sections. This request has resulted in a meeting with Missouri’s attorney general.

It’s yet to be seen what Craigslist will be required to do, if anything, to clean up its site to the satisfaction of those who disagree with its policies. The first meeting was scheduled for today, although there’ve not been any reports on any outcomes at the time of this writing.

A couple was arrested last week in Houston and has been charged with running a massive prostitution ring.  There are at least 1500 celebrities, doctors and professional athletes who are probably sweating right about now.  Any hope these clients had of remaining anonymous have been replaced with fears of being charged with engaging in organized crime along with the couple, Charlie and Deborah Turbiville.  Police have the list and are trying to locate the clients.  Not only that, but they have computer hard drives that were seized as

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well as credit card receipts.  Gold bars and over fifty pounds of paperwork are in police custody too.  The gold bars might result in money laundering charges for the Turbiville’s since it’s believed this is how they cleaned the cash.  Their lawyers say they made the $10,000 bail and are now back at home until the 15^th of April, when they’re scheduled to be back in court.

The couple charged their clients $350.00 per hour and had made arrangements with several upscale Houston hotels to provide the rooms.  They carefully chose their call girls and before being considered, these women were required to be college educated and sophisticated. A citywide scandal is being promised by those in the know and their multiple websites have been taken offline.

The call girls were recruited from Craig’s List and investigators are trying to locate them, even though they’re unsure of just how many they’re looking for.  With 1500 men and at least a few hundred call girls to locate and interview, this will be a long investigation.  Message boards are logging hundreds of comments and most in Houston don’t seem to have a problem with it, but they’re certainly curious as to who’s on this list.  The rumors are flying and you can imagine the “evil eye” some Houston husbands are getting from their suspicious wives.  This scandal certainly has the potential of ending more than a few marriages.

If the Turbiville’s are convicted, they’re facing ten years each and fines up to $10,000.  They also have two young children.

For legal information, legal advice, law information, legal questions, lawyers and legal services, please visit lawyerahead.ca or lawyerahead.com

Now that the newest president of the United States has been decided, we can once again watch national news channels without those frustrating three-tier tickers dancing across the bottoms of our screens and the familiar red and blue banners with up to the minute projections of the latest polls. Still, last night proved to be less than the brouhaha we might have expected. And that’s not a bad thing.

You might be interested to learn some of the propositions and decisions citizens made on state levels. I didn’t realize there were so many controversial initiatives and the combinations of what passed and what didn’t pass make for an image of what might be best described as “fickle”. Chalk it up to human nature.

Arkansas residents voted to ban single people from becoming foster parents, as well as shooting down any hope for singles to adopt. Not sure about this one. With the national foster care system desperate for safe environments to place foster children, it seems as though the losers in this decision will be the little ones who are desperate for some kind of normalcy and the undivided attention kids need.

Remember my post a couple weeks ago regarding the couple who disagreed on the fate of several embryos since their divorce? Well, in Michigan, voters decided to allow donated embryos that wouldn’t be implanted to be made available for stem cell research, provided the owners or donors (depending on how you define “embryo”) allowed the release. The initiative, better known as Proposal 2, doesn’t affect the illegality of human cloning.

Speaking of previous posts, read here for a recent post on assisted suicide. In Washington state, voters have decided to become one of only two states that allow terminally ill people to seek physician assisted suicides with no legal repercussions. Those wishing to end their lives must be declared competent with the probability of only six months or less before they would succumb to their diseases.

California’s initiative on gay marriage was not approved, along with Arizona and Florida’s own initiatives not passing either. It’s been suggested any same sex marriages that were performed in the window of a few months that the Supreme Court made it legal in California will not be deemed unlawful.

Another California proposal that was rejected was one regarding prostitution. Those in San Francisco who wanted it legalized insisted it would have saved tax dollars that are now used to arrest prostitutes and their clients and the other costs associated with these arrests.

And yet another California bill was regarding abortions. Voters decided to not require a minor’s parents be notified prior to performing an abortion. This rejection also applies to a two day waiting period for minors.

In Colorado, voters decided human life didn’t begin at conception; thereby ensuring abortions will remain legal. Not only that, but there were concerns that if this bill passed, it might lead the way for solid arguments against certain birth control methods. Again, another post can be read here.

Whether we agree or vehemently disagree with those chosen to run the country the next four years or any state-level decisions made during yesterday’s elections, one thing is clear - the 2008 election is finally behind us. And now we look forward to holidays that, if your family is like mine, will include way too much food and way too little time spent with family. By the time the Thanksgiving turkey is carved, the past few days will be a distant memory as we anticipate the results of our choices.

I was writing what was to be today’s post and searching for a national database for the legalities of false police reports. As it happens, well, as it happens often if I’m doing it, I got sidetracked. I’ll post what was going to be today’s post later tonight or tomorrow.

I clicked on a link, thinking it might not be what I was looking for, but it was close enough to where there be might other links that could provide the information I needed. That’s when it got good.

Charlayne Woodard aka Sister Peg

Last time I checked, prostitution is illegal in most municipalities, yes? Anyone who’s ever watched Sister Peg on Law & Order knows she plays a renegade nun who’s more interested in the safety of folks while they’re on Earth, specifically the prostitutes of New York City and is known for her own handwritten blacklist she makes available to “her girls”. Her appearances always added to that show. Now, though, while plundering through the results of my search, I discovered a website designed for the safety of escorts. Without going into the moral issues some may have towards this career choice, mostly because I don’t have time to go around declaring one is more moral than the other, and quite frankly, I have a hard enough time figuring out my own after-life destination (Is too much ice cream a true sin of gluttony? Nevermind….I don’t need an answer to that), I am absolutely fascinated that this site is visited thousands of times a day. The webmaster has cleverly walked a very fine line that allows for, believe it or not, a rather complete library with subtopics including: What to do and what not to do, FAQs, Jargon and what appears to be a huge advertising clientele. One ad says: “Because upscale men don’t shop craigslist” That one’s a doozy, yes? Payments are called “donations”, the paying customers are called “clients”, the uhm, act is referred to as the “session” and the list goes on.

There are checklists to determine if an escort could be walking into a vice sting and includes such tips as arriving at the hotel early to scope the parking lot for occupied vehicles, the fact that 9 out of 10 hotels with adjoining rooms are actually vice stings, ensuring the room is “messy” enough when she walks into the room and a simple piece of advice on what to do if “it just doesn’t feel right”: Leave.

Now what site would be complete without a “bad call blacklist”? That one’s chock full of rather interesting descriptions and details of the “session”, physical appearances, where and how it went bad, the excuses for non-payment (including having forgotten his wallet….that doesn’t seem so hard to believe for me. A lot of men have selective memories). Oh, and I can’t forget the one section titled “When Good Clients Go Bad” and how to spot them. Honestly, it’s really no different than what most women live by. If he gets too clingy, if he becomes demanding, if he starts following you, if he starts talking about his mom too often (my favorite on that particular bullet list) - this all stands to reason since if men like this aren’t good husband material, well, then, they’re certainly not going to be good “client” material.

Do you have any idea how many former call girls, escorts and prostitutes have written books? Me neither, since I had no desire to go through all FIFTEEN pages of books available for sale.

Once again, we’re at the Freedom of Speech versus everything. You might be surprised to learn, too, that the laws have evolved over the years that actually are now geared, ever so slightly, towards protecting those in this line of work - women who’ve been abused by clients, etc. There’s even one case (maybe more…but one I found) that’s being allowed to go to trial because of non-payment for services rendered.

Just as Prohibition and Women’s Rights to Vote were debated and argued over and over, is it possible the “world’s oldest profession” will find its way to a legal acceptance?