Public Order Crimes

Public order crimes are actions that do not conform to society's general ideas of normal social behavior and moral values. Moral values are the commonly accepted standards of what is considered right and wrong. Public order crimes are widely viewed as harmful to the public good or harmful and disruptive to a community's daily life. In this chapter the public order crimes described include prostitution, paraphilia, and pornography, as well as alcohol and drug offenses.

Prostitution is selling or performing sexual acts in return for payment, generally money. Paraphilia is sexual behavior considered bizarre or abnormal, such as voyeurism (spying on another for sexual pleasure) or pedophilia (sexual desire involving children). Pornography includes videos, books, photographs, and other materials focusing on nudity and sexual activities.

While crimes against people and property (see chapters 4 and 5) involve actions considered wrong by any standard, public order crimes are defined by the social and moral rules of the day. For example, prostitution was licensed, legal, and socially acceptable in ancient Greece. Around 500 b.c.e. prominent men in Greek communities openly went to houses of prostitution. Part of the money paid was applied to the building of Greek temples. Prostitution was considered morally wrong by most Americans in the year 2000. In the United States, prostitution is legal only in Nevada and then only at licensed houses, called brothels, located away from population centers.

Laws against public order crimes, also called "sin" crimes, are highly controversial. What is shameful and immoral is difficult to determine, and public order crimes are often committed by otherwise law-abiding citizens. The activities are carried out between willing participants. Public order crimes are therefore referred to as victimless crimes, except when children are involved.

Some argue that victimless crimes such as prostitution, pornography, and illegal drug sales should be legalized then controlled and taxed like the sale of alcohol and tobacco. Those with a different point of view stress that there is no such thing as victimless crime. They argue that prostitution and pornography are degrading and often dangerous. Drugs destroy individuals and their families, often leading to thievery for drug money, and even death from drug overdoses.

Prostitution

Prostitution has been a part of human societies for many centuries. While for thousands of years prostitutes were generally thought of as female, by 2000 it was recognized that both female and male prostitutes were active in the trade. Both sell their bodies for money. Almost all customers are male and are known as clients. Frequently a third party—called a pimp if male, a madam if female—will set up the sexual encounter and take a portion of the money exchanged.

Studies show that prostitutes generally enter the profession voluntarily rather than being forced. The chief reasons are for money, often much better money than minimum wage jobs, for survival when there appears no other way to make a living, and for drug money. Prostitutes are often drug abusers. Several types of prostitution exist in the United States.

The most dangerous type of prostitution is streetwalking. Streetwalkers, often dressed in revealing clothing and high heels, stand out as they wait to be picked up by drivers passing by. Streetwalkers are often called hookers. The majority of those arrested for prostitution are streetwalkers. Two other types of prostitutes are bar girls who hang out at bars waiting to be picked up, and call girls. Call girls, who often work for escort services, may have a steady clientele. They are the most highly paid prostitutes often receiving $1,000 or more a night.

The crime of prostitution is a misdemeanor (minor offense) in most states. Those who hire prostitutes may also be arrested on misdemeanor charges. Anyone engaging in promoting prostitution activities, such as a pimp or madam, however, could be charged with felony (major) offenses if arrested. Pimps and madams are charged with felonies because it is likely they have influenced young women or men to engage in prostitution for their own gain.

As previously noted, the only legal prostitution occurs in Nevada in licensed houses of prostitution. These houses or brothels, whether in Nevada or run illegally in other states, are frequently owned and operated by organized crime. Through history these brothels have also been called bordellos, flop houses, cathouses, and "houses of ill repute [reputation]." Madams oversee brothels and the prostitutes who live and work in the house. The money paid for a prostitute's services is split between house owners, the madam, and the prostitute. All other forms of prostitution—streetwalkers, bar girls, and especially call girls—exist in Nevada and elsewhere but are illegal everywhere.

Abnormal sexual behavior

Paraphilia is criminal behavior far outside of what the public considers normal. These include pedophilia, voyeurism, exhibitionism, and sadomasochism. Pedophilia is receiving sexual pleasure from activities that focus on children. Pedophiles, mostly male, prey on unsuspecting children after they win their trust. A pedophile might be a coach, a teacher, or even a religious official. They control the abused children with threats of harm or violence unless the victims keep the sexual activities a secret.

Occasionally there are pedophilia "rings" that consist of a number of active pedophiles. Adult members lure and hold youngsters—the preferred ages being between ten and thirteen—against their will for sexual exploitation and abuse. Many of the victims are runaways who have no home and are not reported missing.

Voyeurism is defined as sexual pleasure derived from watching unsuspecting people undressing or having sexual relations. Exhibitionism is the act of exposing one's genitals or sexual parts to another or to a group for surprise or shock value. Sadomasochism is experiencing pleasure from sexual activities that cause another person pain.

Pornography

Materials such as magazines, books, pictures, and videos showing nudity and sexual acts are considered pornography. Pornography, except when involving minors, is protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution as free expression and is sold in most cities. It is sold in "adult" stores and is widely available on the Internet.

Pornography becomes a crime when it is considered obscene. Obscene material is so offensive it violates all standards of morality or decency. The production and sale of obscene material is a criminal offense. Law enforcement faces the problem of determining what is obscene in specific cases, since there is no concrete definition to guide them. What may be considered obscene to one person is not necessarily obscene to another.

The one type of pornography that is definitely criminal and a felony offense is child pornography. Child pornography involves minors under the age of eighteen and often very young children being sexually exploited by adults. The most common forms of sexual exploitation are photographing and videotaping nude children or children being sexually abused. The photos and videos are then sold to customers.

Child pornography sex rings exist across the country and generally involve three to eleven children, often runaways. They are recruited by adults who first win over their trust then hold onto them with rewards. Some rings are highly organized and have many regular customers. Other rings are operated by a single individual with a small group of customers.

When law enforcement agencies make a determined effort to halt the sale of obscene material found in adult stores, the effect often drives up prices, which in turn creates higher profits for the pornography business. Determined customers will always find a way to obtain what they desire. Dealers who are being watched by law enforcement often turn to selling their products online.

Congress first attempted to control pornography on the Internet by passing the 1996 Communication Decency Act. The act held online providers criminally liable if their networks were used in the transmission of obscene material. In a 1997 case, Reno v. ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the act violated the right to free speech, guaranteed in the First Amendment.

In October 1998 Congress passed the Child Online Protection Act (COPA), which was then signed by President Bill Clinton (1946–; served 1993–2001). In March 2003 the Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled COPA was unconstitutional and in violation of the First Amendment. COPA was still tied up in courts into the early twenty-first century.

Enforcement of online pornography has proven very difficult. As soon as one site is shutdown, others appear. It is not uncommon for people exploring the Internet to accidentally hit on a pornography site. Many pornography sites are "mouse-trapped," which means they are impossible to exit without improperly turning off or crashing the computer. In addition, once someone visits a pornography site endless pornographic pop-ups and emails often invade the computer. Law enforcement agencies have not been able to keep up with the rapidly increasing number of sites.

In spite of efforts by the government to crack down on pornography, it is a booming business. At the start of the twenty-first century, Americans spent as much on pornography as they did on sporting events and live musical shows combined.

Alcohol and crime

Alcohol is the most widely used drug in the United States. Approximately eight out of ten people aged twelve and over consumed alcohol some time in their life and half describe themselves as current drinkers. For those aged twelve to seventeen, 41 percent have used alcohol and 21 percent report being current drinkers. These percentages increase with age, topping out in the twenty-six to thirty-four-year-old age bracket where 90 percent confirmed drinking alcohol and 63 percent were current drinkers.

In the early 1980s, the U.S. government began keeping statistics on the relationship between alcohol and crime. After twenty years, at the start of the twenty-first century, those statistics revealed a clear tie between alcohol and crime. Drinking alcohol does not lead people to commit a crime; the vast majority of those who consume alcohol do not exhibit criminal behavior. Approximately four out of ten crimes, however, involve the use of alcohol. Alcohol also plays a role in four out of ten fatal automobile accidents.

As reported in the National Crime Victimization Survey maintained by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, persons who were victimized by an intimate acquaintance such as a former spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend, reported alcohol was involved 66 percent of the time. Those victimized by a current spouse listed alcohol as a factor in 75 percent of the offenses. In contrast, about 31 percent of violent stranger-to-stranger criminal acts involved alcohol.

The Department of Justice reports two-thirds of alcohol related crimes are assaults. Seven out of ten crimes associated with alcohol occurred in a private residence, while one in ten occurred in a bar or restaurant. The majority of incidents happened at night, peaking between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. The fewest occurred between 7 and 9 a.m. Eighty percent of the time, the weapon used in the incident was hands, feet, or fists. Knives were involved in about 7 percent of alcohol related violent incidents and firearms about 4 percent of the time.

Driving under the influence (DUI)

A potentially tragic and deadly criminal action involving alcohol is driving a motor vehicle while or after consuming alcohol. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimated 17,401 deaths in 2003 were due to crashes involving alcohol. This was only 18 deaths fewer than in 2002. The 17,401 figure represented 40 percent of all traffic fatalities in 2003.

In addition to fatalities, over 500,000 people are injured in alcohol related vehicle accidents every year. The NHTSA estimates three in ten Americans will be affected during their lifetime by an alcohol-related crash, involving themselves, a relative, or a friend.

Driving under the influence (DUI) is a public order crime. Organizations such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), and Remove Intoxicated Drivers (RID) have pressured lawmakers to strengthen DUI laws. Their successes include: (1) passage of state laws raising the minimum legal drinking age to twenty-one; (2) lowering the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit for adult drivers (twenty-one and over) to 0.08 in many states; and (3) zero tolerance laws for youth.

The 0.08 figure means a 0.08 percent concentration of ethanol in a person's blood or breath. Zero tolerance laws for youth make it illegal for a driver under twenty-one years of age to have any measurable amount of alcohol in the blood. Some states actually set the limit for those under twenty-one at 0.00 while others allow up to 0.02. Every state makes its own laws.

Alcoholic Beverages

Rarely when an individual drinks an alcoholic beverage are they drinking pure alcohol. Only a few ounces of the pure liquid rapidly raises blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) to a very dangerous level leading to unconsciousness and possibly death. The alcohol in drinks is ethanol. The approximate ethanol concentration for the most common alcoholic beverages is as follows:

• Beer: 4–6 percent
• Malt liquor: 5–8 percent
• Wine cooler: 5–10 percent
• Wine: 9–13 percent
• Champagne: 8–14 percent

Hard liquor (such as vodka, tequila, whiskey, rum): 40–95 percent

Grain alcohol: 95–97.5 percent

Hard liquor and grain alcohol are commonly diluted with various soda, fruit or sweetened juices, or water.

A standard .12-ounce beer, 5-ounce glass of wine, or 1 shot (1.5 ounces) of hard liquor all contain 12 grams of pure ethanol. It takes the human body about one hour to metabolize (absorb and breakdown) 12 grams of ethanol. When drinks are consumed at a pace faster than the body can metabolize, a person begins to feel intoxicated. Intoxication levels will rise as drinking continues. Symptoms of intoxication are slurred speech, bloodshot eyes, a lack of mental clearness, loss of coordination, and often the willingness to take dangerous risks.

(Information from Just Facts.org at http://www.justfacts.or/jf/alcohol/general.asp)

DUI laws

DUI laws make it a criminal offense to operate a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Illegal Per Se laws make it a criminal offense to operate a motor vehicle if the driver has a blood or breath alcohol concentration (BAC) above a specific level. The level for adults over twenty-one years of age is 0.08 in most states and 0.10 in others. Administrative Per Se laws allow driver licensing agencies to suspend or revoke (take away) a driver's license when the driver has a blood or breath alcohol concentration at or above the state's BAC.

Police may seize a driver's license during an alcohol-related arrest. Depending on the laws of each state, limited driving privileges may be restored after a period of time passes. For example, after a specified time period some states may allow work-related driving to and from a place of employment. Other states allow no driving privileges for the entire suspension. The decision to restore privileges is left to a judge.

All states impose monetary fines of varying amounts. License suspensions, fines, and even short jail time depends on the judge's decision in first-time offenses. For second and subsequent DUI arrests states have more severe penalties.

The major federal legislation that impacts drunk driving offenses is the Transportation Equity Act for the Twenty-First Century (TEA-21) passed by Congress and signed by President Clinton in 1998. TEA-21 has been successful in reducing death and injury on highways by aggressively addressing and funding drunk driving prevention measures. Because of TEA-21 and strong lobbying (applying pressure) by MADD and RID, a significant number of states lowered BAC levels to .08, passed open container laws (making it illegal to have open liquor containers in one's vehicle), and strengthened repeat offender laws. TEA-21 expired on September 30, 2003, and was waiting for reauthorization in 2004.

Drugs and crime

Substance abuse or use of illegal drugs is another type of public order crime. Marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamines are the four illegal drugs most abused. The U.S. government outlaws drugs they consider most harmful. These include marijuana, cocaine and crack cocaine; narcotics that occur in nature such as heroin, hallucinogens such as LSD, and MDMA/Ecstasy; and the illegal distribution or use of prescription drugs such as Vicodin and OxyContin. Besides health risks, the major reason for outlawing drugs is their close relationship to crime. As drug addiction levels increase or decrease in an area, so does criminal activity.

Drug addictions are expensive habits. A significant percentage of crimes against property are committed for drug money. Drug abuse is a major factor in domestic assaults, or those committed among family members. Over half of all domestic assaults involve use of various combinations of cocaine, marijuana, and alcohol. While drug addictions lead some individuals to criminal activities or to domestic abuse, others become involved in crime as part of drug dealing activities. These activities include transporting drugs, known as drug trafficking, and the manufacture, distribution, and sale or purchase of drugs.

Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Program

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) under the Department of Justice began a program in 1989 to study trends of drug use across the United States by monitoring the drug use among jail detainees. Drug use among arrestees parallels drug use trends in the general population. The program grew rapidly and in 1997 its name was changed from Drug Use Forecasting to the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) Program.

Middle and High School Drug Abuse Trends

The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports the following key findings on drug trends among eighth, tenth, and twelfth graders for 2003:

• The percentages of 8th- and 10th-graders using any illicit drug continued to decline and were at their lowest levels since 1993 and 1995, respectively.
• MDMA (Ecstasy) use decreased in each grade, continuing a decline begun in 2002.
• Marijuana use decreased significantly among 8th-graders.
• Use of LSD, amphetamines, and tranquilizers was down among 10th- and 12th-graders; use of steroids, crack cocaine, and heroin was down among 10th-graders.
• Use of OxyContin and Vicodin in the past year remained stable but at rates high enough to raise concern; Vicodin was the second most frequently reported drug among seniors, after marijuana.

(From http://www.nida.nih.gov/Infofax/HSYouthtrends.html)

In 2004 ADAM operated in thirty-eight cities across the United States. ADAM collects urine samples from adults, male and female, awaiting arraignment (where a defendant is charged and enters a plea of innocent or guilty) at central jail booking (processing) facilities. ADAM tests for a wide range of drugs. It most frequently detects marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamines.

In 2000 ADAM reported that 64 percent of the males tested at thirty-five of the thirty-eight sites tested positive for at least one drug. Of females tested at twenty-nine of thirty-eight sites, 63 percent tested positive for at least one drug. Testing reveals marijuana use within the last thirty days, cocaine and heroin use within the last three days, and methamphetamine within the last four days.

ADAM also collects the same information on juvenile defendants, aged twelve to eighteen. At most sites over half of juvenile arrestees tested positive for at least one drug. Of those who tested positive, the largest age group was seventeen. In 2000 marijuana was by far the leading drug among juvenile users, cocaine was a distant second, and the number testing positive for methamphetamine was low.

Drug trafficking in the United States

A strategy traditionally used to deal with drug abuse in the United States is to stop the illegal transportation of drugs into the country. The U.S. government continuously attempts to apprehend drug dealers bringing large amounts of illegal drugs into the country. Despite these efforts, the illegal drug market in the United States is the most profitable in the world. Organized crime groups, both U.S. and foreign, continue to make huge amounts of money from drug trafficking.

Cocaine and crack cocaine. Diverse criminal groups operating out of South America smuggle cocaine into the United States predominately across the U.S.-Mexico border. Wealthy and powerful Colombian drug cartels (organized crime groups growing and selling narcotics) control the worldwide supply of cocaine and see that it is distributed in the United States and elsewhere.

Drug organizations based in the Dominican Republic are also responsible for cocaine in the United States. Use of crack, an inexpensive, smokable, and very dangerous and addictive form of cocaine, has declined in the early 2000s but continues to be available in most U.S. cities. Street gangs such as the Bloods and Crips, Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, and Jamaicans rule the street distribution of crack cocaine.

Heroin. Heroin is grown and moved into the United States from four major areas: Columbia in South America, Mynemar (formerly Burma) in Southeast Asia, Afghanistan in the Middle East, and Mexico. At the start of the twenty-first century heroin arrived in the United States from each of these regions. South American heroin dominates the eastern United States, while "Black Tar" heroin and a brown powdered version from Mexico are the dominate forms in the western United States. Powdered heroin has attracted new, younger users because it can be snorted rather than injected.

Marijuana. Marijuana is the most easily obtained and most widely used illegal drug in the United States. Almost one-third of Americans have tried the drug and there were approximately twelve million current smokers at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Most marijuana is grown in Mexico, Canada, or in the United States. The five leading indoor-growing states are California, Oregon, Washington, Florida, and Wisconsin. Leading outdoor growing states are California, Hawaii, Kentucky, and Tennessee. These sites were determined by the number of plants discovered and destroyed by law enforcement agencies.

Methamphetamine. Methamphetamine distribution and use is concentrated in the western United States. The demand, however, has been increasing in the South, especially in Georgia and Florida. The principle source of methamphetamines is "meth" laboratories located in California and Mexico. In Mexico a majority of the meth laboratories found and dismantled have been in the cities of Tijuana and Mexicali. Points of entry into the United States are along the borders of Southern California and Texas. Increasing numbers of nonprofessional, informal laboratories have been emerging throughout
the United States as instructions for making highly pure methamphetamine drugs can be found on the Internet.

MDMA/Ecstasy. The drug MDMA, 3, 4—methylenedioxy-methamphetamine, is commonly known as Ecstasy. Ecstasy has both stimulant (making one feel high) and hallucinogen (creating hallucinations or imaginary visions) properties. Among other symptoms are increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, blurred vision, faintness, chills or sweating, and sleeplessness. It is usually taken by teens and young adults attending all night parties called raves.

Ecstasy use skyrocketed among European young people in the late 1990s and in the United States between 1999 and 2001. Use began declining in 2002 and continued in 2003. The majority of MDMA that reaches the United States is produced in Europe, especially in MDMA laboratories in the Netherlands. It costs as little as 25 to 50 cents to produce a MDMA tablet in Europe, which is sold for between $20 and $30, sometimes up to $40, in the United States. MDMA is transported to the United States by drug dealers, predominately from Russian and Israeli gangs, through Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean. A small amount of MDMA is produced within the United States.

Operation Candy Box

In August 2003 three laboratories each capable of producing hundreds of thousands of Ecstasy tablets every month were discovered in Canada and dismantled by Canadian law enforcement. At the U.S.-Canadian border city of Burlington, Vermont, $750,000 of U.S. cash was hidden in the fuel tank of a vehicle entering Canada. Both finds contributed important information to a three-year, two-nation investigation called Operation Candy Box.

On March 31, 2004, officials of the U.S. attorney general's office, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced arrests of more than 130 defendants from across the United States and Canada. All defendants were accused of playing roles in a huge drug trafficking ring that manufactured and distributed Ecstasy pills and marijuana in Canada and the United States. The two ringleaders arrested were Ze Wai Wong, a Chinese national (citizen) in charge of distribution, and Mai Phuong Lee, a Vietnamese national, who channeled the millions in profits into banks.

In the March 31 announcement, DEA administrator Karen Tandy said, "Out of all the dangers of illegal drugs, Ecstasy is of special concern because it is aimed at our teens and youth masquerading as colorful candy. Today we have decimated a criminal organization that has poisoned our neighborhoods with up to a million Ecstasy tablets per month and sent as much as $5 million in proceeds abroad per month over five years."

Operation Candy Box revealed that Ecstasy trafficking had ties to Asian organized crime groups operating in Canada and the United States. Candy Box also revealed how as much as five million illegal dollars could be deposited into the U.S.
banking system each month, moved out to worldwide banks including those in Vietnam, and not be detected as suspicious.

Legalization

The U.S. government spends approximately $30 billion every year for drug enforcement. Over the last twenty years of the twentieth century it spent about $500 billion, money that could have been spent on many domestic programs. The government's success in its "War on Drugs" was quite limited, since a plentiful supply of illegal drugs was still available in 2004.

Proponents of drug legalization argue that banning drugs just creates a large network of manufacturers, traffickers, and distributors, all making enormous profits at the expense of U.S. citizens. They argue that the legalization of drugs, then regulating their distribution and sales by the government, is a much wiser approach.

Opponents argue there is evidence in other countries, such as Iran and Thailand, that cheap, available drugs produce an epidemic of drug dependent people whom the government must then care of. Some propose partial legalization, allowing the sale of small quantities of marijuana, as another option. The legalization of drugs in the United States is not likely in the near future since most Americans reject the idea.

For More Information

Books

Abadinsky, Howard. Drug Abuse: An Introduction. Chicago, IL: Nelson-Hall Publishers, 1997.

Go Ask Alice. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks, 1998.

Raphael, Jody Ann. Listen to Olivia: Violence, Poverty, and Prostitution. Boston, MA: Northeastern University Press, 2004.

Siegel, Larry J. Criminology: The Core. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2002.

Web Sites

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).http://www.madd.org (accessed on August 20, 2004).

"Remove Intoxicated Drivers (RID)." RID-USA, Inc.http://www.crisny.org/not-for-profit/ridusa (accessed on August 20, 2004.

Students Against Destructive Decisions, Inc. (SADD).http://www.sadd.org/ (accessed on August 20, 2004).

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse.http://www.nida.nih.gov (accessed on August 20, 2004).

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.http://www.dea.gov (accessed on August 20, 2004).