THE LIBERTY TO SELL SEX: THE CASE FOR REGULATION OF LEGAL PROSTITUTION IN THE UNITED STATES

Prostitution is a controversial service which went through periods of legalization and criminalization in American history. The main problem is a social taboo which considers prostitution to be morally wrongful and a social nuisance. After the Progressive Era, Congress outlawed sexual acts it deemed immoral using Commerce Clause powers. Since the sexual revolution of the 1960s, legislation regulating sex devolved to the states. Currently, prostitution is banned in forty-nine states. I argue that prostitution should not be abolished because it is not inherently harmful, it is not an immoral act, and it has liberty interests found within the United States Constitution. The federal government should define prostitution as a legal activity between consenting adults, and the states should regulate the practice as it does other legitimate professions.