Report No. 64

3.14. Statutes in some States in the U.S.A.-

For example, in the U.S.A., some modern statutes generally enlarge upon the common law basis.1 The following extract from one of the statutes in force in Iowa will give some idea of the general pattern adopted by States which go beyond the common law, although the statutes differs substantially in the different states:

"if any person, for purpose of prostitution or lewdness, resorts to, uses, occupies or inhabits any house of ill-fame or place kept for such purpose, or if any person be found at any hotel, boarding house, cigar store, or other place leading a life of prostitution or lewdness, such person shall be imprisoned in the penitentiary for not more than five years."2

1. Perkins Criminal Law, (1957), p. 335.

2. Iowa Code Annotated, Article 724-I, cited in Perkins Criminal Law, (1957), p. 335.

3.15. The Model Penal Code of the American Law Institute1 recommends the following provision:-

"Section 251.2. Prostitution and Related Offences.

(1) Prostitution: A person is guilty of prostitution, a petty misdemeanor, if he or she:

"(a) is an inmate of a house of prostitution or otherwise engages in sexual activity as a business; or

(b) loiters in or within view of any public place for the purpose of being hired to engage in sexual activity."

1. Model Penal Code, proposed Official Draft, (1962), sections 251-252.