Debunking the "Brothel Law" Myth

[33girl]

Originally Posted by EmmyAO

The paper only made one reference to a "brothel law", and it was only in relation to the sororities' lack of housing.

Newspapers can be wrong!

[EmmyAO]

I did read it, but what I am talking about has nothing to do with sororities being "outlawed" on campus. My sorority is local, and not affiliated with the school. I'm talking about a generalized city law.

My university has housing with 8 girls living in one suite, and that itself debunks the "myth". At least for the implication described on snopes.com

for that, snopes is absolutely correct. but again, that's not what im referring to.

[SWTXBelle]

Snopes may have only addressed the idea of sororities being "outlawed", but the argument remains the same if you are talking about sorority housing being "outlawed" - it is not because of some non-existant "brothel law", but because of the campus administration or ZONING laws.

[EmmyAO]

Yes, I understand that newspapers can be wrong, all I did is provide one other example of a so-called "brothel law" being mentioned in relation to sororities owning houses in the city, off campus.

Dear God, it's not the end of the world if we let this freaking drop. I'll get back to this in a day or so, I need to write a paper.

Have a good evening.

[SWTXBelle]

Why is it so important to YOU that you can't just admit you were wrong?

[sarahsmilehawk]

Is there a graceful way to tell someone they're full of malarkey when they try to inform me of their city's surprisingly common brothel law? I swear I must hear it once a week.

At a province recruitment work shop, a girl in the newest chapter told our adviser and god and everyone that Marysville (or wherever her school was) had a law that said more than five women living together was a brothel and that's why they couldn't have a house. AND NO ONE CORRECTED HER.

GC is turning me into the most bizarre kind of snob: a GLO fact elitist.

Originally Posted by sarahsmilehawk

Is there a graceful way to tell someone they're full of malarkey when they try to inform me of their city's surprisingly common brothel law? I swear I must hear it once a week.

At a province recruitment work shop, a girl in the newest chapter told our adviser and god and everyone that Marysville (or wherever her school was) had a law that said more than five women living together was a brothel and that's why they couldn't have a house. AND NO ONE CORRECTED HER.

GC is turning me into the most bizarre kind of snob: a GLO fact elitist.

Direct her to Snopes.com and kindly tell her that brothel laws simply do not exist. If they still don't believe you, ask them to see documentation.

[SmartBlondeGPhB]

Here's a link to the city's zoning law (took me about 5 minutes to find).

http://www.lowellma.gov/depts/dpd/pe...ingOrdinance07

I couldn't find any mention in my quick scanning on the 105 pages but I could very well have missed something.

[SycamorePike]

At Indiana State only one of the nine sororities have a house (Sigma Kappa). The rest of the sororities live in a stairwell in the Lincoln Quadrangles. When talking to all the different sororities, they all say that there is a "brothel" law in Terre Haute.

Here is the link to Time Magazine, an article on Terre Haute, which was Boom City, USA back in the day. This article was written and soon after, the legislation for the Brothel Law in Terre Haute was put into place.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...8978-1,00.html

Eventually, Mayor Larrison is convinced my President Rankin to pursue the Brothel Law because the prostitutes were moving into sorority houses, that was when Indiana State stepped in and voted to rid the sororities of their houses, they were to live on campus in the Quadrangles where they could be monitored and they could keep the prostitutes out.

I will do my best once I get back to Terre Haute to ge the legislation codes. I am 90% sure that they are still in place. There is my proof of how the problem got started. Now it is trying to find exactly when it was put into place that might take some digging.

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by SycamorePike

At Indiana State only one of the nine sororities have a house (Sigma Kappa). The rest of the sororities live in a stairwell in the Lincoln Quadrangles. When talking to all the different sororities, they all say that there is a "brothel" law in Terre Haute.

Here is the link to Time Magazine, an article on Terre Haute, which was Boom City, USA back in the day. This article was written and soon after, the legislation for the Brothel Law in Terre Haute was put into place.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...8978-1,00.html

Eventually, Mayor Larrison is convinced my President Rankin to pursue the Brothel Law because the prostitutes were moving into sorority houses, that was when Indiana State stepped in and voted to rid the sororities of their houses, they were to live on campus in the Quadrangles where they could be monitored and they could keep the prostitutes out.

I will do my best once I get back to Terre Haute to ge the legislation codes. I am 90% sure that they are still in place. There is my proof of how the problem got started. Now it is trying to find exactly when it was put into place that might take some digging.

You need to do better than that Time article. It makes no mention of the legislation of a "brothel law" to reduce vice or prostitution because there was no "brothel law." There was a call to action but a "brothel law" wasn't the solution.

ETA: In fact, a scholarly search for the keywords "indiana state terre haute brothel law prostitution sorority housing" yields no articles or published/released documents about a brothel law, or a law prohibiting sorority housing due to prostitution, for a reason. Yet the wheels on the bus will keep going 'round and 'round.

[breathesgelatin]

Originally Posted by SycamorePike

Here is the link to Time Magazine, an article on Terre Haute, which was Boom City, USA back in the day. This article was written and soon after, the legislation for the Brothel Law in Terre Haute was put into place.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...8978-1,00.html

Oh man, that article is awful. Check out this quote:

Police Chief Glen Means explained that prostitution was a "necessary evil." Because of it, he says, "there was not a single case of rape in Terre Haute last year. Oh, a few college girls hollered rape, but it really wasn't."

And that's only one of many.

But yeah, the article doesn't mention a brothel law of any kind.

[SycamorePike]

Like I said, give me until the second or third week of August. Once I get to Terre Haute, I work near the court house, I can get your answer quickly. But we learned in our State History course at ISU that there is legislation in Terre Haute. I am pretty sure they wouldn't teach it to us if it was false. I will back up my sources, I just need to get to them.

[DSTCHAOS]

This thread is still circular and I'm surprised that people who want to defend the existence of this law don't come with legislative references in their back pocket. There are some claims that aren't easily defended but legislative claims are cut and dry and readily found if you're looking.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure what's in this link applies to every instance where a brothel law is claimed:

http://index.truman.edu/PDF/2004-200.../Page%2013.pdf

[Senusret I]

Excuses:

Excuses are tools of incompetence
building monuments to nothingness on
pillars of insubstantialities.
Those that employ this theory or its practices
are seldom capable of anything but....
EXCUSES!!!!

[DSTCHAOS]

Okay.

There are a bunch of website references to brothel laws and dumb laws that numerous states (coincidentally, more than one state is reported as prohibiting 12 or more women from living together....) supposedly have on the books about women living together constituting a brothel. However, none of these sites have credible sources, they tend to get their info from other sites, and I've never seen anyone actually cite the actual legislation.