Is Rekers guilty of white-slavery under the Mann Act?

[RainDog]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mann_Act

The White-Slave Traffic Act of 1910 (ch. 395, 36 Stat. 825; codified as amended at 18 U.S.C. § 2421–2424), better known as the Mann Act after Congressman James Robert Mann, is a United States law which prohibits white slavery and the interstate transport of females for “immoral purposes”. Its primary stated intent was to address prostitution, immorality, and human trafficking. While its ambiguous language allowed selective prosecutions for many years, it was later amended by Congress to apply only to actual criminal offenses.<1>

...or is it only a violation if he had transported a female to another nation to have sex?

[Turbineguy]

1. Slavery?

He would gain points with the repubs for that one.

[RainDog]

3. Elliot Spitzer was threatened with it

so, apparently they do think it's wrong.

but apparently it's okay if you're a piece of shit religious right asshole who spends his life as a closeted liar whose entire purpose has been spent trying to persecute the very ones you want to fuck.

To all the homophobes in the democratic party - maybe you should rethink your affiliation with religious groups that are okay with denying equal rights and civil rights to others.

maybe that's more than a little hypocritical.

[blueamy66]

19. perfect first 2 sentences

nt

[xchrom]

2. Under the Man act - awesome. Nt

[peekaloo]

4. LOL

:D

[Heidi]

5. Isn't criminal activity now required for a Mann Act prosecution?

Reker seems to be a liar and a hypocrite, but did he commit a criminal act?

[DaveinJapan]

7. Isn't solicitation of a prostitute a criminal act? nt

[RainDog]

8. prostitution is still illegal in most states

so hiring a "rent boy" to give you the "long stroke" would be a criminal activity, right?

[Heidi]

12. Duh.

It's legal here and I just wasn't thinking.

[RainDog]

14. I don't think prostitution should be illegal, but

since the republican fucktards love to scream about morality and, indeed, tried to use this against Spitzer, then they should have some "moral" consistency, seems to me.

[NewJeffCT]

6. Silly RainDog

Laws only apply to Democrats and "little people"

It's okay if you're a republican

[peekaloo]

9. Judging by his pic

it'll all be swept under the "rug".

[SpiralHawk]

10. Well, we know republicon 'christians' are into torture

so the white slavery thing appears one of the parallel Republicon Family Values

[KharmaTrain]

11. How About Using Non-Profit Funds For His "Funboy"

I don't think the Mann Act applies as he went abroad rather than across state lines. That said, a couple other questions do need to be asked. Was this jaunt financed by his non-profit...and if that's the case, he's surely violated a bunch of laws. Then this also begs the question as to if this was the first time he used such a service...and if not and he had crossed statelines and used organization funds...whoo boy! Game on! No wonder Reker is trying to sue the paper that outted him to prevent more damage. Ain't gonna work. The sooner he admits who he is, the sooner he'll find real peace...in the meantime he'll be his own worst enemy.

[RainDog]

13. another rent-a-boy has come forward

he claims Reker paid him to do both the long and short strokes... and some that got faster as things progressed.

More than being his own worst enemy, he's the enemy of democracy.

I don't think he deserves to find peace. He deserves to be excoriated for trying to deny human rights to the very ones he loves.

He's a sack of shit.

[salin]

15. Hi Rain Dog! (and Kharma Train)

this guys efforts at shutting the story(ies) down via threats of defamation suits aren't going to work. Could also raise some real problems per the icky Fla AG and how he spends public dollars (per the HUGE payout for Reker's testimony).

[RainDog]

16. hi girly girl!

apparently the FL AG is getting hell about this on his fb page. lol.

I LOVE IT.

[salin]

17. How deserving!

[KharmaTrain]

18. He Doesn't Love...He Uses...

Be it through "rent-a-boy" or the many suckers who threw money at him and his hypocritical organization. His denial of his own true being shows he has lived a lifelong lie and has added a lot of baggage along the way. It's predictable that now the "closet" has been opened, a lot of his dirty laundry is sure to come out. Some of it will be titilation, but much of it will destroy this hypocrite and right be it so.

We've seen this show before...the massive denial followed by irrefutable proof followed by the "rehabilitation". Ted Haggart and repeat.

I agree, he's a sack of shit and deserves to be laid low...and the more he fights, the more he deserves it. Ultimately he'll have to deal with his inner demons as they're now open for all to see. If anything, I see this as a positive as yet another charlatan has self-destructed and how homophobia can destroy the one who is so consumed by it.

Cheers...

[RainDog]

20. The religious right feeds off of lies

Why oh why doesn't the American media demonstrate this by showing their continued denial of reality and science?

not just with their homophobia, but with their hatred and rejection of science that proves their lies?

does the American media really think they're doing a service to anyone by not going after the religious right as an entity?

what's the difference between the religious right and Joe McCarthy, as far as their attempts to poison the well of democracy?

[salin]

21. in the ultimate irony... he, Haggard and others

like them - are part of what has had an effect on changing public sentiments per the anti gay legislation that they have built careers upon. Their very public downfalls are deserved - and on the way they contribute to tearing down the support for their causes. Hopefully in the future such movements will be so irrelevant that the only money to be made is by the internet companies hosting sites that they pay as they type in their parents' basements.

Tragic, though, are all of the lives they have damaged along the way.

[RainDog]

22. I want to see a Venn diagram of hypocrisy!

I want a spread sheet about spreading lies...

and not just about homosexuality.

about evolution.

about abortion

about equal rights for women

about their support for economic slavery

about their support for dictatorships around the world.

Is there ANY group in the U.S. that has done more damage to American civil life than the religious right?

[KharmaTrain]

23. Incredible Irony...

...especially when you take into account that he recently was paid $60gs to be an "expert witness" and he was deemed "not credible"...even before his real self was exposed. A con man and not a good one, but as you well point out, one that has been dangerous. His ilk have perpetuated and encouraged hatred and intolerance and have profitted handsomely. When exposed, they're quickly thrown under the bus so the others who are still in on the con can keep their gravy train rolling.

My hopes are this is yet another episode that helps bring the day when the homophobes are totally marginalized...where they aren't viewed as "respected" but as the true bigots and hypocrites they are.

:hi:

[RainDog]

24. I don't really care about recs

but I have to wonder... how many homophobes and religious right hypocrites do we have on DU?

[Heidi]

25. The Mann Act historically has been used to persecute

minorities, homosexuals, and political opponents of the authorities, as well as its original protected class (women). The Mann Act grew out of moral panic and has been an abysmal failure at halting interstate immorality. That may explain some unrecs.

The Mann Act failed to put a halt to interstate immorality; such repressive legislation seldom works. The act's unintended consequences included blackmail, selective prosecution by federal officials, and the repression of female sexuality. Worst of all, under the Mann Act people's sexuality became subject to the moral opinions of the majority. Some landed in prison for harmless conduct that did not conform to the majority's values. http://www.enotes.com/major-acts-congress/mann-act

To be clear, I think George Rekers is a vile hypocrite, but I would not favor prosecuting him under the Mann Act any more than I would have favored prosecuting Spitzer under the Mann Act. (I didn't unrec your thread, though.)

[RainDog]

27. I don't favor it either

I posted this to point out yet more hypocrisy from the right wing in this nation.

[Heidi]

29. I don't know when it started exactly (probably in my childhood,

as I was raised by liberals) but hypocrisy is what I've come to expect from the right wing, and especially from neo cons who are so intent on enforcing their own moral code on others (but not so much on themselves). :(

:hi:

[dsc]

26. Did he cross a state line?

If his flight to Europe was a direct one he may not have.

[Hubert Flottz]

28. It just kind of makes you wonder...

Who would Jeebus "Long Stroke"?