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Will Spitzer Go To John School?

The details about New York Governor Eliot Spitzer's prostitution scandal are still just trickling out—Fox News naturally jumped the gun and had him all but heading off to prison—but if the feds are really going to prosecute Spitzer for ordering up a $4,300 hooker, in all likelihood he would be subject to D.C. and not federal law. (Spitzer was in D.C. when he called the escort service, and unless he was doing something really stupid like using public money to pay the bill, his crime hardly reaches the level of a federal offense and would likely go to local prosecutors.) D.C.s' criminal penalties for prostitution are pretty mild for first-time offenders, as Spitzer would presumably be. He's unlikely to be facing jail time. What he might have to endure, though, is a day-trip to John School.

In D.C., men who get caught trying to pay for sex are frequently required to attend an 8-hour class known as John School, run through the U.S. Attorney's office, where they are schooled about the evils of prostitution, introduced to "survivors" of prostitution, and counseled by a psychologist about sexual addiction. Helpfully, they're also offered free STD testing from the Department of Health. Spitzer wouldn’t be the first high-profile person to land in John School. Lots of local professional athletes have been through, including, most recently, Washington Wizards forward Andray Blatche. It wouldn't be fun, but it definitely beats the alternative, which could be a stint in the D.C. jail.

Comments

OMG....John School...this is hillarious! Good 'ole Karma,
comin' down!!

Posted by: silverlucie on 03/10/08 at 3:20 PM Respond

Going from washington to nyc is crossing state lines. i.e. federal. But yeah they aint gonna go after him if he cooperates like the no good mofo he is.

Hey I heard a lot of illegal whores got drivers licenses(j/k)

Posted by: mikey on 03/10/08 at 10:30 PM Respond

Sadly...elections seem to be more about mud slinging than about what the candidate really stands for..and the media will use ANYTHING...
I don't believe this is what our forefathers had in mind when they founded this country!

Posted by: Melissa on 03/10/08 at 11:36 PM Respond

i guess this is karma's balancing act for all the liberal schadenfrude over richard mellon scaife.

at least this can serve as an object lesson for andrew cuomo not to get too big a head.

Posted by: homer on 03/12/08 at 5:07 AM Respond

Will we be hearing who johns 1 thru 8 are? and 10 thru whatever?
Why didn't Eliot save money and just call Ann Coulter?
Oh that's right, no telling where she's been.

Posted by: Just Joe on 03/12/08 at 7:27 PM Respond

Iran has their Spitzer. Tehran's police chief, Reza Zarei, has been arrested after he was found nude in a local brothel with six naked prostitutes, the Farda news website reported Wednesday.

Zarei stepped down from his post following the raid, the report said. According to another popular Iranian website, Gooya, the order to raid the brothel was given directly by Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, chief of the judicial authorities.
Over the past year Zarei was in charge of enforcing the Islamic dress code on Iranian women with the purpose of "moralizing of the city."
It is alleged that in the past six months, hundreds of young people have been arrested in Iran for not respecting the Islamic code of behavior.

Posted by: Mustafa on 03/13/08 at 10:47 AM Respond

according to this page, the DC police no longer support the John School.

http://mpdc.dc.gov/mpdc/cwp/view,a,1242,q,546913,mpdcNav_GID,1541.asp

Seems to be an outfit where some misguided feminists and liberals make money by "counseling" people. They seem to claim that all women are victims of sex (and thus they unintentionally promote monogamous patriarchy and through attempts to suppress sex work lead to further abuses of people). It is time to decriminalize prostitution and promote rights of workers to organize and travel freely. However, I would be very interested to read the results of this "school"--how "cost-effective" was it?

Posted by: John2 on 03/16/08 at 4:22 AM Respond