Is Solicitation Illegal

Is Solicitation Illegal? A Complicated Question

Solicitation laws ain’t so simple. With free speech protections, it gets real messy real fast tryna figure out what’s allowed and what ain’t. But let’s break it down so we can wrap our heads around this tricky topic.

What Counts as Solicitation

Basically, solicitation means asking someone to engage in illegal activity. Obvious examples include:
Offering to sell or buy drugs
Trying to hire someone for prostitution
Asking a minor to send inappropriate photos
Shady stuff like that. But there’s also solicitation laws around legal activities – it just depends on the time and place. Like you can’t be hollerin’ at people to buy stuff in certain areas or after certain times at night. Feel me?

Two Main Types of Solicitation Charges

There’s generally two kinds of solicitation charges:

1. Solicitation of a Crime

This is when you try to get someone to help you commit a crime – whether by doin’ it directly or helping to plan/fund it. Conspiracy laws come into play here too.

2. Solicitation in Public Places

These laws aim to cut down on aggressive panhandling, prostitution, or disrupting the public peace. Lots of cities have rules against soliciting money, business, or other stuff from strangers in public areas.

Defenses Against Solicitation Charges

If you get slapped with one of these charges, there’s a few defenses that might get you off the hook:

You Were Joking

If you can show you weren’t serious when you made the solicitation, the charges will likely be dropped. But you gotta prove it wasn’t just a lame attempt to cover your tracks after the fact.

Entrapment

This means law enforcement pressured you into committing a crime you wouldn’t have otherwise. Like if an undercover cop kept hounding you to sell them drugs after you said no.

Misidentification

If the cops got the wrong person and you can prove you weren’t the one soliciting, then you’re off the hook.

Unconstitutional Vagueness

If the law used to charge you is too vague and doesn’t clearly explain what’s illegal, you may be able to get the charges tossed out.

Free Speech Issues

Here’s where it gets tricky. Solicitation laws can bump up against free speech rights real quick. Like if I stand on a street corner with a sign that says “Honk if you hate taxes,” am I soliciting unlawful tax evasion? Or just exercising free speech?
Courts gotta balance public safety with protecting civil liberties. It ain’t easy. Certain types of speech like threats, fraud, or conspiracy ain’t protected. But offensive speech usually is, even if most people think it’s BS.

Incitement vs Advocacy

There’s a difference between advocating for illegal activity as an abstract idea versus directly inciting imminent lawless action. Like writing an article saying “taxation is theft” is fine. But urging an angry mob to storm the IRS building right freakin’ now crosses the line.
See the distinction? One is more general advocacy, the other is inciting specific criminal conduct in the heat of the moment.

Prostitution & Anti-Solicitation Laws

One area where this free speech debate comes up is around prostitution laws. Activities related to the sex trade like:
Pimping
Pandering
Running a brothel
Are illegal in most places. But what about just offering or agreeing to sell sex? Is that protected free speech?
Some say yes. Others argue it leads to public nuisance issues like street harassment, violence against women, and human trafficking.
Most cities have laws allowing cops to arrest both sex workers and clients for things like:
Loitering in public for prostitution
Soliciting sex in public
Soliciting from a motor vehicle
Are these reasonable public safety measures or unconstitutional restrictions on free speech? There’s good arguments on both sides. And courts are kinda split.
For example, a federal appeals court struck down anti-solicitation laws in California. But other courts have upheld similar laws in places like Louisiana and Michigan. So it varies around the country.

Takeaways

Solicitation generally means asking someone to help commit a crime or engage in illegal activity.
It can also apply to aggressive panhandling, prostitution, or other disruptive behavior in public areas.
Charges require proof you intended for the crime to be committed, not just idle talk.
Defenses include entrapment, misidentification, or arguing the law violates free speech rights.
Balancing civil liberties and public safety around solicitation laws is tricky business open to debate.