{ February 28th, 2011 }
Prostitution convictions in Illinois need not be lifelong barrier to future success

By: Rachael Temes

A recent sting operation in Will County, Illinois, resulted in the arrest of more than 30 people involved in a Joliet prostitution ring.

According to a TribLocal article, at least one of the defendants, 26 year-old female Ariel A. Utterback, was charged with Class 4 felony prostitution because she was previously convicted of prostitution.

A Class 4 felony prostitution conviction is one of the few felonies in Illinois that is eligible to be both expunged and sealed. It can only be expunged if the person is has no other convictions on their record AND they receive a special type of probation (called 1410, 410, or 710 probation). Individuals that were not sentenced to ‘special’ (1410, 410, 710) probation, or those with prior convictions on their record, can still seal the Class 4 felony prostitution case.

If this sting had happened in Cook County, the “Johns,” (customers) that solicited the prostitutes could potentially escape a misdemeanor charge and instead be charged under the Cook County Public Nuisance (or “Johns”) Ordinance.  Under the latter charge, the defendant would pay a larger fine and potentially have their vehicle impounded (if it was used to commit the crime).  The logic for charging “Johns” with violating the Cook County Ordinance rather than with a misdemeanor under Illinois law is that the larger fine is supposed to be a better way to deter people from soliciting prostitutes.

Chicago expungement attorney Tamara Holder blogged about this Ordinance back in 2008 before it was passed into law.  She pointed out that charging people under the “Johns” ordinance essentially decriminalizes the act of solicitation while prostitution remains a misdemeanor (or potentially felony) offense.

At least in Illinois, most prostitution cases can either be expunged or sealed, which means offenders can potentially leave prostitution behind and pursue legitimate jobs.  In her blog, Tamara argued that the criminal justice system should focus more efforts on rehabilitation/counseling services for prostitutes rather than just convicting them.  Shortly after this blog post, the “John” Ordinance was put into effect. Thankfully, the fines gathered from violations of the Ordinance are actually being funneled into a fund to provide services to help women get out of prostitution.

I do not know if any such funds exist to help women in Will County (or in other Counties in Illinois for that matter), but I hope that lawmakers and law enforcement are open to the idea.

Posted in Blog, Expungement & Sealing ~ No Comments
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