A very important concept in criminal law is the matter of "discretion."

In this case, it doesn't refer to keeping things private, but rather to making decisions.

A police officer generally does not have to arrest every lawbreaker they see. Rather, they can exercise their discretion to arrest some but not others. This use of discretion is generally valid provided that it's not influenced by factors such as race, etc. Similarly, a police department can exercise it's discretion as to where it will allocate its limited resources -- for instance, it could decide to give priority to drunk drivers, or to street dealers, or to domestic violence, etc.

If Berkeley has decided to "decriminalize" prostitution, what it means is that the police department has decided to make enforcement of anti-prostitution laws a very low priority and concentrate on other matters. If this is the case, then unless something exceptional happens in a particular instance it is unlikely that anyone will be arrested for prostitution in Berkeley -- until the department, again exercising its discretion, gives it a higher priority.

Best regards,

Jay Wiseman, JD

Hi Pamp!

www.swopusa.org/node/53

We(Sex Workers Outreach Project) fought for decrim in 2004 called Measure Q (angels Initiative), but we lost :( It hasn't been taken to the ballet since. There is currently a ballet initiative in San Francisco thru ESPU (www.espu-ca.org).

Currently as far as I know there is not a county/city in California that has decrim prostitiution, but we are working with the California Bar Assoctiation (www.swopusa.org/node/103) to decriminalize prostitution state wide.

With Love,
Tara