Why Do We Throw Prostitutes in Prison?

[Scootaloo]

102. It's not the question that should be asked

It seems based on several stacked assumptions that are rather poorly-supported. Asking "why jail prostitutes?" is like debating which of the four Gospels should be given the most focus in high school biology classes.

Go back to the beginning, the first question on the issue; What do we want from prostitution?

Do we want it to be a legal private industry?
Do we want it to be a legal but heavily regulated industry?
Do we want it to be blacklisted as an industry (and are we willing to accept a black market, if so?)
Do we want prostitution abandoned as an industry alrogether?

What are the expectations? because this question needs to be answered before we start wracking our heads about what to do with the prostitutes involved.

The question was never resolved, however; legally, it was simply declared a crime, and society rushed forward to determine a patchwork variety of punishments, rather than actual prevention. And now we're standing on that paradigm and apparently trying to figure out a new patchwork of "fixes."