Ballot proposal seeks ban on prostitution in Nevada

Brendan Riley

Thursday, Jan. 27, 2000 | 9:38 a.m.

CARSON CITY - Nevada's legal brothels would have to shut down under terms of a ballot proposal launched Wednesday by anti-prostitution crusader Milo John Reese.

Reese's initiative petition, filed with the secretary of state, calls for a law change to prohibit prostitution and to impose misdemeanor penalties for any violations.

He'll have to get 44,009 signatures of registered voters by Nov. 14 to submit the petition to the 2001 Nevada Legislature. If the Legislature fails to act, the plan would be on the 2002 general election ballot.

Reese has tried for years to shut down brothels, claiming among other things that the state Health Division covered up information that showed a woman with the AIDS virus worked in a legal brothel.

State law allows counties to decide whether to legalize brothels. Prostitution isn't legal in the main tourist areas, but about 30 brothels operate in rural Nevada counties. That includes several just over the line from counties that encompass Las Vegas, Reno and Carson City.

Reese, 54, who admits having regularly visited prostitutes as a young man, now says prostitution is degrading to women and against biblical teachings. He heads a small group called Nevada Against Prostitution.

The anti-prostitution petition got off to a rough start: Reese filed papers that erroneously said signatures were to be sent to organizers of another ballot plan for a constitutional amendment to prohibit same-sex marriages.

Organizers of that plan said Reese apparently borrowed one of their signature sheets for his proposal and forgot to delete the reference to the Coalition for the Protection of Marriage.

Reese also could have trouble if he opts to hire a professional signature-gathering crew. He must pay thousands of dollars to cover costs of a recent search by authorities who thought he might have been killed.

Reese turned up safe 10 days after his abandoned car, with a smashed window and a seat stained with his blood, was found Nov. 8 east of Reno, near the defunct Mustang Ranch brothel. He admitted to staging his disappearance to publicize his claim that prostitutes are leaving their legal brothels in rural counties to work illegally in Las Vegas and Reno.