Local : Santa Ana Takes Aim at Prostitution

In an effort to curb prostitution along Harbor Boulevard, Santa Ana city officials said today that they will file a lawsuit in Orange County Superior Court to bar 300 convicted prostitutes and their customers from the thoroughfare.

The city is seeking injunctions against the prostitutes and their customers, charging that they create a public nuisance. Those who have been convicted of prostitution or soliciting prostitutes would be summoned to court and told that if they are arrested, they will be charged with contempt of court.

Civil libertarians immediately challenged the injunction.

“It’s a violation of constitutional rights to try and get people off the street merely for their criminal record and not for any present illegal conduct,” said Rebecca Jurado, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union.