The following op-ed by ACLU-WV Policy Director Eli Baumwell appears in today's edition of the Charleston Gazatte-Mail.
West Virginia Sen. Mike Maroney, R-Marshall, has been in the news this week because he was implicated as a buyer, or “john,” in a prostitution arrest for the second time in just under a year.
What a shame.
What a shame our police and government waste time and resources on the activities of consenting adults. What a shame we accept as normal the egregious invasions of privacy that allowed these arrests to happen. What a shame we continue to enforce laws like these that hurt poor and marginalized communities the most. What a shame this is distracting from issues that really matter.
Read more: https://www.wvgazettemail.com/opinion/op_ed_commentaries/eli-baumwell-maroney-story-shows-its-time-to-legalize-sex-work-opinion/article_8c5ecd60-30c9-5d90-8359-9e44395ceedb.html
The new ACLU study on legalizing sex work can be found here: https://www.aclu.org/report/sex-work-decriminalization-answer-what-research-tells-us.