The Ninth Circuit U.S Court of Appeals ruled 3-0 that laws criminalizing commercial sex passed constitutional muster. The court found that the laws against prostitution were in the public interest and did not run afoul of free speech protections. The San Francisco-based sex worker advocacy group that brought the lawsuit is expected to appeal the ruling to the full court. (The Recorder, January 17, 2018, by Michael Booth)
Law professor Ruthann Robson wrote about the court’s rejection of the free speech claim, “…the court considered the solicitation of commercial sex as speech and analyzed it under the landmark test of Central Hudson Gas & Elec. Corp. v. Pub. Serv. Comm’n of N.Y (1980). The court noted that the first prong regarding the exclusion for ‘unlawful activity’ was determinative, but nevertheless continued, and briefly applied the other parts of the Central Hudson and found the statute did not violate the First Amendment.” (Constitutional Law Prof Blog, January 17, 2018, by Ruthann Robson)