SCANDAL WATCH : Real Issues

Notwithstanding the unseemly media frenzy at the Los Angeles arraignment of an alleged Hollywood madam, two issues of substantive import have arisen in this case.

The first, surfacing only in the form of rumor and a very far distance indeed from any substantiated fact, is the possibility that a Hollywood studio wrote off as entertainment expenses some costs allegedly associated with illegal sex services. Such creative accounting would be an obvious violation of Internal Revenue Service rules and would certainly warrant scrutiny by stockholders, if not the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The second issue, raised recently by feminist attorney Gloria Allred, concerns the inherent inequity of laws and enforcement strategies that facilitate the prosecution of women for prostitution but make it difficult to prosecute the male customers.

Current law enforcement practice, working under fiscal restraints, will target the madam of an alleged call-girl ring in the same way that a police narcotics task force will concentrate on the kingpin of a smuggling ring. The theory is that you disable the entire operation by corralling the leader.

The theory is logical, but the practical effect is just as Allred suggests. The system is tilted against women. It’s the woman in court, facing the full weight of the criminal justice system, not any of the men.

The intent of the system is not to be discriminatory--indeed, prostitution, though perhaps the oldest profession, remains one of the ugliest. But that’s the result.