How much of a fine or jail time would deter you from the hobby?

So about that Texas legislation the link mentioned: "In the year after the law took effect, an analysis of court records showed that 518 felony solicitation of prostitution cases were filed. Of the 232 cases that have been disposed of, only 11 (5%) ended in felony convictions. Meanwhile, 178 cases (77%) of those that were disposed of were dismissed under what’s known as pretrial diversion. In those deals offered by prosecutors, defendants generally were required to take a decision-making class or “John’s class, ”and either pay a fine or make a donation to the Houston Area Women’s Center. In return, those Johns were later given an opportunity to get the criminal charge expunged -- wiped off their record." [view link]

Texas is a border state with a massive human trafficking problem caused by federal failures at the border. I understand they are desperate to save the victims of trafficking, but prevention is the real solution.

I don't care about fines, and thinking that jail is not really happening unless I totally fuck up and get mixed in with an off the rails crazy train. The probability of an incidental crime spree with me around isn't zero lol.

I'm 81. "Don't Piss Off Old People The Older We Get The Less Life In Prison Is A Deterrent".

Well, the current penalties here are up to 1k & up to 1yr. I don't seem to be deterred, so I'm guessing they'd need to be more severe to deter me. For me, fines would have to be pretty big if it was a simple fine and move type situation. A $500 fine wouldn't give me pause at all, that's one day at the club. $2k maybe a bit. But I'd probably just be a bit more judicious rather than stopping all together. 5k might get me to think about it some more, but I'm not really sure. Jail time works though, if it was actually reasonably likely I'd get locked up even overnight I'd be a lot less likely to be fucking strippers. I also don't like his bio line or whatever that is called, the shit about protecting the freedom and dignity of the most vulnerable. There's plenty of SW'ers out there who've chosen the line of work, taking it away from them isn't granting anyone freedom. Nor is marginalizing them for their decision protecting their dignity. I don't understand why sex work is treated so differently. I don't doubt some people are coerced into sex work, but its not the only thing they're forced into. No one wants to see anyone forced into any sort of work, weather its fucking and sucking or assembling electronics. Yet people don't seem to suggest fining people for using iPhones to reduce demand because some percentage of them are made with forced labor the way this guy is suggesting it as a resolution to the problem of sex trafficking.

Those numbers quoted by the OP are for Houston, not all Texas. Houston all but says it is about resources. “In Montgomery County, prosecutors have been enforcing the law much differently. Of the 39 disposed of cases since the law went into effect, 33 resulted in criminal convictions,” The law is intended to exclusively go after the buyers of sex, males. Knowing that and seeing the groups behind it commenting, I’d recommend being careful. This law has nothing to do with stopping anything, this law is meant for making the right people feel good and to make headlines.

There are fines and jail time for drunk driving but a lot of people from all aspects of society still do it, at least once in a while. We could answer this as a hypothetical but there might be one case where many would just say "fuck it, I've got to see more of this girl." Strip clubs aren't illegal and just going to watch girls dance is still legal. It's the propositioning for sex for money that is illegal. Just propositioning a hot girl for sex is still legal as well.

What’s the crime ?

“I'll give you my “hobby” when you take it from my cold, dead hands.” ~ Charton Heston aka John Charles Carter ~ White Privileged actor - activist ~ Born October 4, 1923 Wilmette, Illinois, U.S. ~ Died April 5, 2008 Beverly Hills, California, U.S. “Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!” ~ As George Taylor in the movie Planet of the Apes (1968) :D

Like most deterrence, it depends on the _likelihood_ of being caught more than the fine itself. I don't even know the penalties around me, or consider them when buying extras.

The idea of a felony on my record is a bigger deterrent than fines or a few days/weeks in jail. Generally the fines aren't much more than a few OTC visits cost and if need be I could just use a month worth of vacation days to cover a few weeks in jail. However, my job requires annual background checks and midemeanors don't effect anything but any felony would result in my immediate termination. The last thing I want to do is lose a job I like and have to start job hunting with a fresh new felony on my record. Luckily the areas I monger in don't aggressively target prostitution too much unless they believe it involves human trafficking. Also it generally only results in a misdemeanor and a fine or maybe a few days in county lockup. If they started aggressively prosecuting felonies for solicitation I would have to find a different area to travel to for my hobby fix.

Nothing bad can ever happen to me so I never think about the law.

The guys they're busting for this stuff are usually those they catch in streetwalker and low rent escort stings. I have yet to hear of a SC John roundup and simply can't imagine the realistic OTC or SA risks. So no, the consequences of being caught don't really factor into the equation since the odds of me going down either of the higher risk avenues are near zero.

We'd all be a LOT better off if prostitution was legalized and regulated. This is what leads to the VIP "nudge nudge wink wink" at strip clubs and Asian Massage joints. This is a victimless activity; I mean porn actors get paid to have sex, even mainstream actors re: "Blue Bunny" - WTF! To be clear, prostitutes are not for me. Sure a HJ is my limit at the club, call me a hypocrite if you want. When prohibitions are placed, people find underground ways and no one is better for it. NV (outside LV) has the right idea as does Germany. And when regulated don't make the govt "fees" so steep & licensing so extreme they are more of a deterrence than support. General Hooker had the right idea in the Civil War. Sex trafficking can be severely squashed with proper border control enforcement and tough illegal alien enforcement. Let's Go BRANDON!

Do they serve breadsticks in prison?

I'm very risk averse so it would need to be totally legalized for me to consider hiring a prostitute. I buy lap dances because they are legal where I live. The type of people who would be offended by my strip clubbing are people I don't want to socialize with anyway. High fines and jail time is only one of the problems involved here. That would drive it even more underground. There is already a risk you are walking into a setup where you might get robbed and I think that risk would increase if this hobby was driven even more underground. The girls have to worry about being robbed and also raped so they may have it worse than us guys. I'd like to see prostitution legal but kept discreet. I don't want hookers plying their trade on the sidewalk in front of my home.

I'm not convinced sugaring or stripper sex is gonna slow down much based any any increase in punishment. We are fortunate here in KY that simple prostitution is a misdemeanor. In addition, the law explicitly states that one cannot be convicted or either prostitution or solicitation of same based on the testimony of another person. In other words, you have to admit it yourself. The only exception to that is if the prostitute or john is actually a cop with a wire. Of course, that won't stop an *arrest*, but a good lawyer should be able to get you off if you keep your mouth shut. Which you should *always* do with cops anyway, no matter how small or large the crime is. ACAB.

The irony of this is that the hangings at Nuremburg haven't deterred these types from being fascist fucks. Effectively there already is a fine for careful Johns. You pay her for her time, don't ask for sexual acts and just hope they happen. Sometimes they don't. Doesn't matter much to me, because often you don't click with her, sex or no sex.

I won’t confirm or deny that I have ever indulged in P4P I will say that the idea of getting caught at all is not something I would find acceptable. Therefore I would be careful not to get caught. Fines or jail time is not the deterrent, just getting caught is. If I want to play I still will but I would be careful.