Any bets on this prosecution getting cut off at the ankles? If it continues we will probably lose half of the congress.

The ONLY reason this story should even matter at all is because there may have been some right-wing, self-professed "Christian" elected officials engaged in prostitution. Hypocrisy should be exposed.

Otherwise...this is hardly news. DC hookers for public servant johns? Don't agree with it morally, but it's been happening for eons.

Who cares if they had sex or not, the government is once again going out of bounds. Why should people care about how they spend their time and money when it doesn't hurt anybody or damage any property? Because it's immoral? There are plenty of other immoral activities that are commited every day that go unpunnished thare as private as using an escort service (adultery anybody?).

People raise the risk of contracting an STD as a reason. Those same people could learn a few things about how these kind of operations work in Nevada. Regulate it, tax it, and put it work so that law enforcement can work on other issues (graffiti, drug stings, unsolved murder cases). This lifestyle is NOT going to stop because of high profile cases like this one.

If the Madam is running an illegal business, indict her if proof is there. As far as I am concerned that is enough.
I hope the rest of the information of who did what to whom is not aired as this information, not news, would ruin a lot of lives. It all is non of the nation's concern.
Let the media move to informing us to what is happening in the world that truly affects us.

I think the johns and prostitutes should be outed and prosecuted as well as the madam. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. And I sure wish your readers would learn to spell or use spell check.

Sounds like it would have been a good plot for a 'West Wing' episode. Oh, that's right, it was!

I just wish the justice dept was as zealous to protect our borders, as they are about busting escort services.

Robert: Thank you for reading my comment. I only wish you had read it accurately. I did not use the word "religion". I used the term "a metaphysical-based ideology". However, we will go with an examination of religion since it seems of interest to you. I propose that religion is a thesis and freedom the antithesis. (In that order only because religion developed prior to freedom in collective groups.) Religion's outcome, once one monotheistic religion dominates a society, is the outcome shown by Puritans, Wahabi, Students (Taliban), the French Inquisition, and the Spanish Inquisition.

I propose the following thought concerning freedom:

HIERARCHY OF FREEDOM

Humans have three interactions, first with each other, second with other species, and third with the environment. Due to our unique ability to impact life through conscious thought, discussions of the second and third interactions should focus on humanity’s stewardship responsibilities. I will deal exclusively with the first, human interaction.

It is my premise that we can reduce such uncivilized behavior as war, terrorism, child and spouse abuse, and other acts of unfairness through understanding the nature of freedom and by having this understanding permeate society.

Freedom is comprised of a three level hierarchy. The levels, in order of precedence, are freedom from the actions of others, freedom of belief, and freedom to act. Making sure we have the idea firmly fixed, one human’s right to freedom from the actions of others transcends another human’s right to freedom of belief, which in turn transcends another human’s right to freedom to act.

Freedom of belief includes religious belief. The first and third freedoms concern actions. The second freedom is limited to internal thought.

As long as there is no conflict with the freedom from and the freedom of (plus stewardship responsibilities), a person should be free to act without interference.

When we analyze a situation using this structure, it becomes clear whose rights should prevail. For every situation ask, “Does this situation concern one human’s interaction with another human?” If the answer is yes, then this hierarchy of freedom applies.

The hierarchy rests heavily upon the concept of equality among humans. This is a recent development in human evolution. It is only shallowly ingrained. Humans still suffer under the bondage of royalty, theocracy, ignorance, and tradition.

An important role of a legitimate government is to support this hierarchy of freedom and to ensure that those more powerful are not able to distort or reorganize this hierarchy. One test of the legitimacy of a government is its degree of implementation of the hierarchy. A low level of implementation would be justification for other governments to withhold support and for its own people to seek leadership replacement.

Those in power sometimes use the excuse of an internal or external threat to claim that they must suspend the hierarchy of freedoms and extend their own power. They might hide their motives behind terms such as morality, values, and the common good.

This hierarch provides a framework that should guide society’s laws and help the individual develop internal discipline.
an analyst
9 April 2007

A victimless crime? This is not victimless. This is spreading STDs, hurting marriages and further pushing out the limits on what "Pleasure" is. Sex is a wonderful thing in a marriage. Try working on your marriage. Prostitution is not victim-less.

That proposal for the hierarchy of rights by your own admission requires that everyone subscribe to them and believe in them.

But that is part of the problem. We all believe different things. We act on what we believe. Everyone else's proposal for solving this problem requires that everyone else believe their solution. And that is the heart of the matter.

I see no crime here. What a bunch of wasted tax dollars.

Please oh please God...let there be every one of DC's Christian-Right-Wing-Nut-Bag's name on that list. Please oh please let Brownback's name be there....

Oh...and you evangelicals out there.....keep your crap to yourselves and stop trying to shove it down our throats unsolicited!

If Ms. Palfrey really names names she will end up like Chandra Levy.

Hopefully she has police protection.

These so called "family men" are the biggest perverts of them all and they deserve exactly what they get.

What makes all the posters assume that this is all the fault of Pat Robertson and evangelicals? It could just as easily be a Democratic prosecutor who would like nothing better than to charge the "DC Madam" for providing sexual services to some Republican "family values" conservative, thus giving rise to the inevitable charges of "hipocrisy." We will know from ABC's treatment of the list. If only Republicans or nominal Democrats in disfavored occupations (such as defense contractor) are named, with the list being "edited" to remove any names that might make this a bipartisan scandal, we will know. I do not see any evidence of an "American Taliban" who are trying to purify our streets. I do see plenty of Democrats who are trying to ignore or minimize the real "Taliban" who want to kill us as "infidels." But of course we have to be "tolerant" even of those who seek to exterminate us.

There have to be reciprocal parties for there to be a criminal activity, the payer and the payee, otherwise this sort of case is a witch hunt. Prosecute all parties or none at all.

Clean up the SEX. Tax it! Make it Legal and you can use the money to pay for UNIVERSAL Health Care.

It's impossible to stop prostitution!!!

We have thousands of years of proof!

Tax it!!!

This woman is smart! She has it ON PAPER that her "escorts" were not to engage in sex. Reasonable doubt? If it ever goes to trial, we'll see...

Bern, STD's are spread without the use of escort services. Haven't you been to any bars, dance clubs or country clubs lately? Hurting marriages? I don't see these services knocking on the door of prospective Johns like a salesman. People choose to use these services out of free will. Yes, it's inconvenient and a shame that people would break a commitment such as marriage to seek pleasure from another companion but I blame both husbands for not owning up to their commitments and wives for being naive and not knowing who their partners really are. Prostitution IS victimless.

Prostitution, if this is the case here, is never a "victimless crime". Even if the women (or men) consent to be prostitutes the risks for being damaged physically, emotionally, and socially are very high. The families and significant others of the men who engage in prostitution will also pay a price in disease, relationship trauma, and the social chaos of dysfunctional families. The greater culture, often asked to pick up the costs of the damage done by others, is also victimized. Why is is that we can understand the dangers of second hand smoke and not see how unbridled sexual behavior can also do damage to people well beyond the two who consent at any given moment?

What ever happenned to professional ethics in this country? Wasn't part of the reason that the clients hired Pamela Martin and Associates was so that the girls would come, have sex, leave and shut up?

This Madam is a disgrace to her profession.