Thought this was an interesting read. 
Dear Johns
by SASHA
August 31, 2010
I’ve been watching with livid frustration as the legal travesty that followed the security travesty preceded by the political travesty (a veritable trifecta of travesty, it has been) unfolds around the G20 arrests.
During the mass court appearance on Monday, Aug 20, the Crown prosecutors attempted to strike deals with some of the accused by requesting they pay 50 or 100 bucks to their favourite charity to have their charges dropped. This reminded me of something I witnessed in the spring of last year when I sat in a courtroom and watched one man after another, all of whom had been arrested in an undercover police operation called Project DOJO (Diversion of John Offenders) stand before a judge being told that they would have the charges of trying to procure a sex worker in public dropped if they paid $400 to a charity. That charity, which they weren’t free to choose and which required their participation, was called John School (streetlightsupportservices.ca/about_john_school.html) .
While the little media that did cover DOJO tended to focus on the fact that one officer was assaulted in the course of an arrest being made and another accused solicited an undercover officer from an allegedly stolen vehicle, what I got when I spoke to many of these men was that several didn’t understand at the time of their arrest they were being solicited by sex workers at all. Language and cultural barriers (most of the men were racialized and a large majority spoke very little English) led several of them to believe that they were being cruised by nonprofessionals. If they did understand that they were professionals, they were often not the ones who initiated the transaction.
In an article published in the Toronto Star on Wednesday, Aug. 25, about the G20 mass court appearance, Thomas Walkom wrote, “In a standard court case, this tactic—a form of plea bargain—might make sense. But in this very political case, it’s hard not to suspect that the authorities were taking advantage of the fact that many charged without reason simply wanted the nightmare to end.”
And that is precisely what happens to so many men charged with trying to procure the services of sex workers— even in cases of coercion and entrapment. They are bullied into having their charges dropped by “contributing” to a charity that is run by former sex workers. They pay these former sex workers vast amounts of money they don’t have to begin with to tell them that sex work is soul killing and those who employ services are deplorable. They get to this place by being entrapped by women paid to pretend to be sex workers.
In the case of the G20 arrestees, people were unlawfully arrested and incarcerated because they were out protesting on behalf of their favourite causes. To ask them to contribute money to these causes to have non-existent charges dropped is utterly absurd. They already do enough for these organizations, some volunteering unimaginable hours and energy to bring social and political injustices to light. To say nothing of the fact that many of these organizations are deprived of their leaders at the moment, since their own bail conditions prevent them from working.
So here are a couple of questions and please feel free to comment: why are we criminalizing people who are out seeking pleasure or comfort? Who fight for the comfort and justice of others? The laws in our country state very clearly that sex work and the expression of dissent are legal yet those involved in these activities are constantly penalized and in ways that make their involvement seem immoral and dangerous. I wonder why the fuck I’m paying someone to pretend to be a sex worker so that men can pay former sex workers to tell them sex work is wrong when everyone knows damn well they’re just trying to get charges dropped. I want to know why I’m paying my government to protect me from people who are just trying to tell me things I actually need to hear.
http://www.montrealmirror.com/wp/?p=12628
Dear Johns
by SASHA
August 31, 2010
I’ve been watching with livid frustration as the legal travesty that followed the security travesty preceded by the political travesty (a veritable trifecta of travesty, it has been) unfolds around the G20 arrests.
During the mass court appearance on Monday, Aug 20, the Crown prosecutors attempted to strike deals with some of the accused by requesting they pay 50 or 100 bucks to their favourite charity to have their charges dropped. This reminded me of something I witnessed in the spring of last year when I sat in a courtroom and watched one man after another, all of whom had been arrested in an undercover police operation called Project DOJO (Diversion of John Offenders) stand before a judge being told that they would have the charges of trying to procure a sex worker in public dropped if they paid $400 to a charity. That charity, which they weren’t free to choose and which required their participation, was called John School (streetlightsupportservices.ca/about_john_school.html) .
While the little media that did cover DOJO tended to focus on the fact that one officer was assaulted in the course of an arrest being made and another accused solicited an undercover officer from an allegedly stolen vehicle, what I got when I spoke to many of these men was that several didn’t understand at the time of their arrest they were being solicited by sex workers at all. Language and cultural barriers (most of the men were racialized and a large majority spoke very little English) led several of them to believe that they were being cruised by nonprofessionals. If they did understand that they were professionals, they were often not the ones who initiated the transaction.
In an article published in the Toronto Star on Wednesday, Aug. 25, about the G20 mass court appearance, Thomas Walkom wrote, “In a standard court case, this tactic—a form of plea bargain—might make sense. But in this very political case, it’s hard not to suspect that the authorities were taking advantage of the fact that many charged without reason simply wanted the nightmare to end.”
And that is precisely what happens to so many men charged with trying to procure the services of sex workers— even in cases of coercion and entrapment. They are bullied into having their charges dropped by “contributing” to a charity that is run by former sex workers. They pay these former sex workers vast amounts of money they don’t have to begin with to tell them that sex work is soul killing and those who employ services are deplorable. They get to this place by being entrapped by women paid to pretend to be sex workers.
In the case of the G20 arrestees, people were unlawfully arrested and incarcerated because they were out protesting on behalf of their favourite causes. To ask them to contribute money to these causes to have non-existent charges dropped is utterly absurd. They already do enough for these organizations, some volunteering unimaginable hours and energy to bring social and political injustices to light. To say nothing of the fact that many of these organizations are deprived of their leaders at the moment, since their own bail conditions prevent them from working.
So here are a couple of questions and please feel free to comment: why are we criminalizing people who are out seeking pleasure or comfort? Who fight for the comfort and justice of others? The laws in our country state very clearly that sex work and the expression of dissent are legal yet those involved in these activities are constantly penalized and in ways that make their involvement seem immoral and dangerous. I wonder why the fuck I’m paying someone to pretend to be a sex worker so that men can pay former sex workers to tell them sex work is wrong when everyone knows damn well they’re just trying to get charges dropped. I want to know why I’m paying my government to protect me from people who are just trying to tell me things I actually need to hear.
http://www.montrealmirror.com/wp/?p=12628
