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| A streetwalker strikes an alluring pose in Miami Beach. MIAMI, FL—During the late night and early morning hours along Biscayne Boulevard, Calle Ocho, and the back streets and alleys of Miami, scores of sparsely clad women lean into car windows, prowl on corners, and flag down passing motorists. Most commonly referred to as "streetwalkers," they are commercial "sex workers" looking for "dates"—eager to please the many thousands of tourists and conventioneers that fill the streets of the city. But, as in the days of the Old West in places like Dodge City, Cheyenne, and Tombstone, they have been ordered to "get out of town!" Based on the 2000 ordinance in Miami Beach that created the country's first prostitute-free zone, the city of Miami followed suit in 2003, creating four prostitution-free zones throughout the city. Anyone arrested for soliciting in the designated district will be ordered by the court to stay away from the area. Any streetwalker arrested again in the restricted zone goes to jail—and for a longer period than that typically imposed for misdemeanor prostitution. As with other stories of crime and violence in the greater Miami area, the new offensives against prostitution have been discussed at length in editorials and on local talk shows, picked up by the wire services, and broadcast as "news" in Peoria, Denver, Dallas, and numerous other parts of the United States. Stories of prostitutes walking the "strolls" of urban America and reports of brutal violence and clever theft are continually offered to the public imagination. Murderers, rapists, and sinister thieves are given prominent attention by the news media; violent crime is the major pursuit of the villains and scoundrels of mystery and detective stories; and homicide, assault, robbery, and prostitution are common themes in the portrayal of crime on television and in movies. What explains American's fascination with crime? Many Americans have developed rather distorted and one-sided conceptions of crime. They see crime as something that is intrinsically evil, as something that threatens individual rights, civil liberties, and perhaps the very foundations of society. They seek to protect themselves by locking their doors and windows, insuring their possessions, and avoiding dangerous places and situations. They think of crime as something alien, something that exists outside of organized society. In actuality, crime goes well beyond the prostitution, street crime, violence, and theft portrayed in the popular media. Moreover, the volume and rates of crime differ considerably from what conventional wisdom suggests. Although violence and theft may appear to be the most typical forms of lawbreaking, crime includes thousands of different types of offenses, and the majority rarely come to our attention unless they are propelled into national consciousness through some media event (see Exhibit 2.1). White-collar crime, for example, is associated with the illegal activities of businesspeople that take place alongside the legitimate day-to-day activities of their businesses or professions. It involves billions of dollars annually in price fixing, embezzlement, restraint of trade, stock manipulation, misrepresentation, bribery, false advertising, and consumer fraud. The economic toll from white-collar crime well exceeds the dollar losses from all known robberies, burglaries, and other thefts—yet it is rarely considered. Also important is the fact that many activities are considered crimes in some jurisdictions but not in others and in some nations but not in others. There are activities that once were viewed as crimes but are no longer considered as such, and some behaviors that many people consider normal and common are nevertheless defined as criminal under the law. What, then, is crime? In this chapter this question is answered through an analysis of crime and its relation to law. |