Thursday, Dec. 28, 2000 | 11:17 a.m.
Las Vegas attorneys say they will fight a Justice Court ruling that supports the Clark County District Attorney's policy on prosecuting prostitution cases.
Justice of the Peace Jennifer Togliatti ruled Wednesday that there was no gender discrimination during the plea bargaining process of an out-of-state woman who sought to have a prostitution charge against her dismissed.
The 25-page ruling backs District Attorney Stewart Bell's year-old policy to not negotiate any prostitution cases except those involving first-time male offenders who opt to take a diversion class. Togliatti consulted with fellow justices in the case after an early November hearing.
Bill Terry, the woman's attorney, argued the policy is gender-biased and designed to prevent women who are arrested for prostitution from obtaining work cards for exotic dancing.
Police work cards are required for employment in casinos, bars, exotic dancing, escort services, child care, locksmithing and a variety of other industries. A conviction or guilty plea on prostitution is grounds for denying a work card, but a plea bargain to a lesser charge has been challenged as insufficient grounds for denial.
The ruling found there is a difference between a defendant who "was acting as a 'seller' of prostitution rather than a 'buyer.' "
It is expected to affect more than 35 other cases pending against women fighting solicitation charges in justice and district court and could delay them as this case winds through the appeals process.
"There obviously will be an appeal to the District Court," said Terry, whose client is charged with soliciting an undercover detective to watch her perform a sex act. Because the case is a misdemeanor, the Sun is not printing the woman's name. "The decision was written to justify the (district attorney's) policy."
Bell maintained -- and the local justices agreed -- that his policy is not gender biased, because it was meant to apply to both male and female prostitutes. At a November hearing, Bell said if male prostitutes were given deals, his deputies violated the policy and he would send an e-mail to clarify his position.
Attempts to reach Bell for comment on Wednesday's ruling were not successful.
"This decision is troubling in a number of regards," said American Civil Liberties Union attorney Gary Peck, a vocal opponent of the work card issue that the ACLU says gives police too much control over the right of people to work in various industries.
"The DA's own public comments have shown that the policy is discriminatory against women. He offered the justices a revisionist view of what happened and they accepted it."
Bell's policy came after the ACLU last year objected to Metro Police denying work cards to exotic dancers who were arrested but not convicted of prostitution.
"It has been agreed amongst Metro, the district attorney's office and the city attorney's office that -- except in cases of first-time male offenders who opt for the diversion program -- we will not negotiate the nature of cases of soliciting prostitution nor will we agree that they may be in the future dismissed for any reason," the policy reads. "The defendant will either plead guilty or be tried."
In her written order, Togliatti said: "If in the future a female defendant is a first-time buyer of prostitution and that female is not offered the opportunity to participate in the same or substantially similar program as a first-time male buyer of prostitution, the Las Vegas Justice Court will be inclined to consider any new arguments relating to an alleged gender bias in plea bargaining."
That is not likely to happen, because nearly all customers of male and female prostitutes are males. County records at the time of the November hearing showed that of the 874 people who had been through the diversion program since December 1997, all but one were men.
During the hearing, Bell acknowledged that most of the buyers of sex are men and there is a diversion program available for them, while most of the sellers of sex are women and there are no programs for them.
By the same token, Togliatti wrote: "If in the future a male defendant is a first-time seller of prostitution and is allowed to seek diversion while a first-time female seller is not, the Court will similarly consider any new arguments relating to gender discrimination claim."
Allen Lichtenstein, general counsel for the local ACLU, says Togliatti should not have held the hearing because it was a constitutional issue raised by the defense and should have gone before the District Court.
On top of that, Lichtenstein said, the court's ruling flies in the face of state law, which he says is clear that no such differentiation should be made between buyers and sellers of prostitution.
Peck and Lichtenstein said their office will continue to support the efforts of Terry and other attorneys as they press forward with their fight against the prostitute plea bargaining policy.
The court also ruled Wednesday that its decision is retroactive to prior cases in which first-time female buyers of sex were convicted and sentenced without being given plea bargaining considerations. "She will be entitled to have her case reheard before the sentencing judge," Togliatti ruled.
Terry questioned that wording, noting it can be interpreted that the conviction or guilty plea would still stand and that only the sentencing would be reconsidered -- a sentence that likely already would have been served, making the rehearing a moot point.
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