Gapers Block published from April 22, 2003 to Jan. 1, 2016. The site will remain up in archive form. Please visit Third Coast Review, a new site by several GB alumni.
✶ Thank you for your readership and contributions. ✶
Friday, April 26
Shaming of would-be johns is all the rage recently; Oakland, CA, for example, began running pictures on billboards in February. And, as the Trib reports, the Chicago Police Department began posting prostitution patron arrests online today. A notable difference between the two campaigns is that, while Oakland only broadcasts the convicted, CPD's website reminds visitors "[t]hese individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law." Legal scholars are divided about the effectiveness of public humiliation, but this piece in the San Francisco Chronicle offers some perspective.