27 / 84
26 United States
The Economist
September 22nd 2018
2
government’s lawyers. In1983 the
DoJ
des-
ignated three films distributed by the Na-
tional FilmBoard ofCanada on the threats
of acid rain and nuclear war as “political
propaganda”.
Whatever the inadequacies of Mr
Mueller’s quirky prosecutorial cudgel, it is
clear that Mr Manafort is not the hapless
victim of a bad law. His scheme would be
the ideal target ofany lawdesigned to com-
bat foreign influence. He was also convict-
ed of a host of more humdrum tax-fraud
crimes. If some ofWashington’s numerous
“strategic consultants” are scurrying to de-
clare themselves foreign lobbyists, then
that seems a good outcome. But in the age
of Twitter bots, American policymaking
and elections may be defended from for-
eign influences only by completely rewrit-
ing
FARA
. The new law should probably
devote as much space to computers as to
parchment.
7
“Y
OU’RE the master of your own des-
tiny in this job, much like any small
business owner.” So says Alice Little, who
claims to be America’s top-earning legal
prostitute, on track to book $1.2m this year.
Next to an undulating sex sofa in an other-
wise homely suite at the Moonlite Bunny
Ranch, she lists the perks of her trade. They
include flexible hours and prices that she
alone sets. “I ammy own boss. Everything
I do is my choice,” she adds, in the evange-
lising tone of an entrepreneur.
Ms Little may soon find herself jobless.
Residents of Lyon County—one of seven in
Nevada that has legal brothels—will vote
on an advisory measure to ban them on
November 6th. The county’s four bordel-
los may shutter, leaving several hundred
registered sex workers, bartenders and
maintenance staffwithout work.
Nevada’s sex trade is the only legal one
in America and is as old as the state itself.
Miners arrived in the mid-19th century,
soon followed by gambling and prostitu-
tion. The vices stayed: attempts to ban the
brothels in the post-war years faltered.
State law forbids prostitution in the more
densely populated counties: it is illegal in
Las Vegas and Reno, though that is where
most sex-workers covertly ply their trade.
Nevada currently has 21 legal brothels.
They sit offdusty, rural highways.
The anti-brothel crowd is a mix: some
church folk, who see the issue in moral
terms; some campaigners against sexual
exploitation; and some business types,
who fear it will deter investment in a near-
by industrial zone. Brenda Sandquist, who
runs a charity called Xquisite that counsels
sex-workers, says they are treated like
“meat.” She thinks they face abuse and
that legalisingprostitutionbrings anuptick
in sex-trafficking.
Ms Little finds the idea that she is being
exploited laughable. Prostitutes in Nevada
are classified as independent contractors;
most live elsewhere and arrive at the
brothels for short stints, free to leave as
they wish. They can turn down requests
by clients, insists Dennis Hof, owner of
Lyon County’s four bordellos. He aims to
cultivate “a willing buyer, a willing seller,
and a repeat customer.”
Prostitutes must pass a background
check: felonies are disqualifying. They sub-
mit to weekly
STD
testing, and condoms
are required. Rooms come equipped with
panic buttons to guard against abusive
johns, though Ms Little says she has used
hers twice: once at the sight of a tarantula
and once by accident. Freedom to work
without fear of arrest is another relief.
While stripping in Las Vegas, Tiara Tae,
nowa sex-worker at the Bunny Ranch, saw
countless streetwalkers get “ho charges”—a
“little bit of jail time and a huge-ass fine.”
The illegal scene there was “shady” and re-
quired toomuch hustle to evade penalty.
Legalised prostitution seems safer. A
study from Rhode Island, which in effect
decriminalised indoor prostitution be-
tween 2003 and 2009, found that reported
rape offences decreased by 30%and gonor-
rhoea cases by over 40%. No study has yet
shown a causal link between legalised
prostitution and people trafficking.
Mr Hof, a publicity-courting showman,
suspects anulteriormotive behind the pro-
posed ban. He is running for a state-assem-
bly seat in November and thinks the ballot
initiative was cooked up by his opponent
in the Republican primary, a three-term in-
cumbent, whom he trounced in June. That
the two counties to contemplate a ban this
year happen to be those where he owns
brothels is no coincidence, he speculates.
(In Nye County, anti-brothel campaigners
failed to win enough signatures to get the
measure on the ballot.)
He seems a shoo-in for his Trumpian
district, even as police investigate allega-
tions of sexual assault against him. (“Total-
ly absurd,” he says when asked if they are
true.) Grover Norquist, the anti-tax crusad-
er, and Roger Stone, a longtime adviser to
the president, came to this arid corner of
Nevada to campaign on his behalf.
In all likelihood the proposed ban will
go nowhere. Just 29% of Nevadans said
they would ban prostitution in a recent
poll. That share drops among rural resi-
dents.MrHofsees this as amatter of perso-
nal liberty for both the women and their
clients—like owning guns, gambling, and
smoking weed. That argument deserves
some scrutiny. Ms Tae went broke three
times before becoming a sex-worker. As-
pen North, also of the Bunny Ranch, says
family debt led her to the profession. Their
choice of sex work does not make them
victims of trafficking, but it suggests a lack
of options owing to poverty. They can
make ends meet safely now and would be
hurtmost by a ban. Moralisers, says the Re-
publican candidate, “need towake up.”
7
Nevada’s brothels
Bras and ballot initiatives
CARSON CITY, NEVADA
Nevada’smost notorious brothel-keeper is also a Republican candidate