Has Alan Dershowitz finally jumped the shark: Re: prostitution

[The Backlash Cometh]

He says that the reality is that everyone knows that prostitution in major cities is a common thing so this was a bogus charge against Spitzer. Misdemeanor at most. And when they asked him if Spitzer would prosecute himself if the shoe were on the other foot, he said that probably, which would reveal his hypocrisy.

[theboss]

1. Alan should really never talk extemporaneously

He becomes such a caricature of an over-educated, secular Jewish northeast intellectual when he does. Even when I find myself I'm agreeing with him, I think, wow...do I really want people to know that this is what I think?

[SoFlaJet]

2. he jumped the shark

when he defended US torturing potential terrorists

[The Backlash Cometh]

8. I don't recognize him anymore.

[stillcool]

20. He got what he was advocating..

Legalized torture. I wonder what his position on steroids is. Crime and Punishment. What a joke.

[madrchsod]

3. he may have violated state,federal ,and municipal laws.

.. he`s hit the trifecta!

why is alan giving this scumbag a break?

[MADem]

6. AD was his (young) prof at HARVARD LAW, is why. They go back a ways. NT

[madrchsod]

22. thanks!

[MADem]

23. ES was also his research assistant, too, so there's more than just a student-teacher connection. NT

[joeybee12]

4. Oh, anything to get himself back in the spotlight n/t

[MADem]

5. No, he made a legal analysis. AD will be around for awhile. He makes for interesting tee vee. NT

[shain from kane]

7. He settles on some obscure point, and beats you down with his argument. Most people realize that the

world, and evidence gathering, is not perfect. But they also concede to his arguments, because, let's face it, he's a very unpleasant person.

[endarkenment]

9. Spitzer wasn't running a whorehouse.

I really can't stand the distortions going on here and in the false noise machine. Spitzer prosecuted whorehouse operators while using a whorehouse himself. That makes him a fucking hypocrite, literally, but only a john and in general not the target of local, state, or federal prosecutions. The fact that we lock up the whores and leave the johns alone unless they are high ranking prostiticians is a whole other issue that can be readily resolved by leaving the whores alone too. Of course in our demented idiocracy the solution is generally to go after the johns, except that the police hate that because then they can't make their usual bonuses from the whorehouse operators.

[The Backlash Cometh]

11. Well, there's another reason why we want to keep politicians out of the

cathouse. So they don't become vulnerable to blackmail.

[MADem]

24. Some comedian this evening noted that he was CONNECTED TO A PROSTITUTION RING...by his PENIS!

Not sure who said that (Conan? Stewart? Colbert? Letterman?...but it was funny).

He was just a fucking CUSTOMER. Not a "ringleader" or an owner, just a lousy CLIENT.

Yes, he is a jerk, a hypocrite, an asshole, lacking in character, a disgrace to his family, a disappointment to those who know him, but this hyperbolic language, I agree with you, is ASININE.

It's a bit of the "protest too much" BS. Lacks sincerity, certainly.

[morgan2]

10. laws are arbitrary

I've broken many a laws from speeding to jay walking. I've got no moral problem with prostitution between consenting adults. If I was his wife I'd care, but thats between them. For all I know she was cheating on him. If it was some minor or someone forced to against their will I'd have a problem. But shit he gave her some money to touch her no no spot with his pee pee, who cares.

[The Backlash Cometh]

12. Unsafe sex. They say he asked for unsafe sex.

Under normal circumstances, I would say, "Get a wife!"

[morgan2]

14. unsafe omg terrorism!

who knows what he asked for, rumors rumors rumors. Raise the threat level to red!

[shain from kane]

13. "No moral problem", yet you still refer to "her no no spot". More likely her ye$ ye$ spot.

[Mike03]

15. His analysis was interesting if not entirely convincing

I was waiting for him to defend his position that Spitzer was not guilty of the Structuring charge, but he didn't elaborate whatsoever. That is the only charge I think would stick. The notion Feds would prosecute him for the Mann Act is ludicrous.

[The Backlash Cometh]

16. The man has too much money if he can arrange to fly in his poontag.

[napi21]

19. Don't you think it's possible that he was trying to hide "large expenses"

from his wife? From what I understand, he was transferring smaller amounts of $$ from several of his different bank accounts to another account (of his I think). My guess would be that wifey didn't know anything about the account the $$ was tansferred into.

There's still way too much that the public doesn't know about what was really going on in this whole story. I really think we should all sit back and wait several days at least and see what else we hear.

[The Backlash Cometh]

21. I agree with you. There's more to this story.

[Prefer]

17. Wasn't there a guy who prosecuted himself for something?

just to be honest? Was it Spitzer? Fitzgerald?
does anyone remember who that was?

[selador]

18. he;s right

i've been saying the same thing.

the issue here is soliciting prostitution, a minor charge, that usually results in a fine at worse.

yes, TECHNICALLY, it's a mann act thing, and structuring as well, but the reality is - petty crime

however, the investigators had no idea what they were getting into when they started - they just had the anamolous transactions, the shell company, etc.

spitzer, like many prosecutors (the jack mccoy syndrome) probably would have made a lot of hue and cry about the mann act, etc. but anybody in law enforcement knows prostitution is dealt with as a nuisance crime. (many years in law enforcement myself).

the true money laundering and organized crime aspect is on the "sell side" so to speak - the escort service that RAN the pros's

but really, as i have said, he should take a 6 month probation and a fine, and have his record wiped upon completion of probabtion

that's how the real world handles solicitation of a prostitute.

dershowitz is pretty knowledgeable about these things. i had the pleasure to speak with him once about a law enforcement issue, and i found him to be pragmatic, knowledgeable, and reasonable