Date of Award

2020

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Tunick, Mark

Abstract

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.

Comments

Includes bibliography.

Extent

89 p.

Identifier

FA00003703

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