NEW YORK – American porn stars can breathe a sign of relief thanks to a recent New York state Supreme Court decision by Justice Budd G. Goodman. Escorts who think they can defend themselves from prostitution charges by pointing a finger at the adult video industry are likely not as pleased with the ruling, however.During December of last year, 44-year-old Jenny Paulino, her sister Elsa, and four other individuals believed to be employees of the American Beauties Escort Service were arrested and accused of prostitution. Paulino, was additionally charged with running a multimillion dollar prostitution ring when the Manhattan District Attorney’s office concluded that it was a front for paid sex, where rates ran between $500 and $3,750 an hour.
As part of her defense, Paulino claimed that prosecuting her while leaving porn “Goliaths” alone was an example of selective prosecution and thus a violation of the Equal Protection Clause. Although Paulino referenced People v Kovner, claiming that it proved that “no legal distinction” exists between paying for sex to be performed upon oneself and paying for sex to be performed upon another person, such as happens in an adult video. Justice Goodman disagreed, ruling that Paulino’s argument was based on a “stale, faulty, and nonprecendential” case that included a “specious” and “unjustifiably broad” interpretation of prostitution
“Because the definition of prostitution is generally confined to a bilateral exchange between only two parties,” Goodman explained, “escort services and ‘Goliath’ corporations are not similarly situated.” The Justice further pointed out that since the adult video industry had “flourished without prosecution since its infancy, that industry was not intended to be covered” by prostitution legislation.
Paulino’s attorney communicated disappointment with the decision, which left his client fighting one count of prostitution and another count of money laundering. Gerald B. Lefcourt insisted that pornography clearly promotes prostitution due to the fact its participants are paid to engage in sex acts with one another and because those acts are then “shown to millions of people for phenomenal profits.”
