Roadblocks to Crime: Travel Restrictions for Convicted Prostitutes

• NCJ Number: 148749
• Journal: Law Enforcement Bulletin Volume: 63 Issue: 6 Dated: (June 1994) Pages: 16- 19
• Author(s): J M Gnagey III; C Leonhard
• Date Published: 1994
• Length: 4 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

A growing problem with prostitution led city officials in Champaign, Illinois, to create a unique and comprehensive system of travel restrictions for convicted prostitutes.

Abstract

In 1989, the Illinois legislature passed a statute that made third and subsequent prostitution convictions felonies punishable by up to 3 years in prison. Due to heavy caseloads of court personnel, however, convicted prostitutes were put back on the street with minimum judicial oversight. To respond to the rise in prostitution, the Champaign Police Department had to convince the courts to allow the imposition of travel restrictions on convicted prostitutes. The first step in this process entailed establishing legal precedent. The police also had to amass a factual basis for implementing travel restrictions. The Champaign County State Attorney's Office requested judicial approval of travel restrictions on a broad geographic scale. In response, county public defenders countered that complete "banishment" from a defined area would unduly hamper legitimate activities. The prosecution successfully rebutted this argument by proposing that probation supervision personnel monitor the travel ban. In other words, offenders could obtain written permission from a probation officer to enter a restricted area for legitimate purposes, with appropriate limitations as to time and place. The implementation and enforcement of travel restrictions became a model of interagency cooperation. Nine weeks following trial court litigation, 12 recidivist and first offender prostitutes were restricted from illegitimate presence in the area where they had worked previously. While some prostitutes rehabilitated themselves, most tested the county's resolve and violated the travel restrictions. Police officers arrested these individuals, and the State Attorney initiated proceedings to revoke probation the same or following day. 3 endnotes