1989 DC Prostitute Expulsion

1989 attempted expulsion of suspected sex workers from Washington, D.C.

The 1989 DC Prostitute Expulsion was the attempted forced removal of a group of suspected sex workers in Washington, D.C., by members of the D.C. police in the early morning of July 25, 1989. Police officers, frustrated by inability to clean up the prostitution problem in D.C.'s 14th Street red-light district, where several police districts came together and prostitutes could easily avoid enforcement efforts by crossing the street, ordered a group of around 24 scantily clad women to march from the Thomas Circle area, down 14th Street toward Arlington County, Virginia, via the 14th Street Bridge.[1][2]

As the group passed the Washington Monument at about 1:30 in the morning, Washington Post reporter Bill Dedman happened by in a taxi on his way home from the Post newsroom, and began interviewing the women and police officers. He ran to the Agriculture Department building across the Mall to use a pay phone to ask the Post metro desk to send a photographer. Before a photographer could be sent, Post photographer Stephen Jaffe also happened by on his way home from another assignment. Post police reporter Jeffrey Goldberg soon arrived. Jaffe began taking photos, causing the police officers to flee.[3]

The women never crossed the bridge, but photos of the parade on the bridge's approach ramp demonstrated the police officers' intent to make them march into Virginia. The women had been marched 1.4 miles down 14th Street. After the police left, the women were driven back to Thomas Circle by men in vans, who had been following the parade at a distance, and most were back on street corners within half an hour.[1]

On the front page of The Washington Post the next day, Dedman and Goldberg recounted the events:

> District police have started a new push on prostitution -- all the way to Virginia.

> Beginning about 1:30 a.m. yesterday at 14th and M streets NW, officers rounded up 24 women from downtown street corners and ordered them on a forced march to the state line.

> The angry line of women, many of whom were dressed in leather miniskirts and brightly colored tube tops, ambled 1.4 miles down the left lane of 14th Street, through the business district and across the Mall, grumbling and carrying their spiked-heel shoes all the way.

> A police scout car with flashing blue and red lights led the procession and another brought up the rear.

> "They said they were taking us to Virginia, that we could work over there," said a woman who identified herself as Toni. "They said we'd go to jail if we stopped."[1]

The next day, Goldberg and Dedman reported that Arlington County police officers admitted having sent homeless people and the mentally ill across the Arlington Memorial Bridge into D.C. in the past. Virginia politicians expressed outrage at the D.C. police action. Congressman Stanford Parris, who represented Virginia's 8th congressional district, complained "We get all the sludge, all the garbage, most of the prisoners, and now their prostitutes." A trade union for prostitutes threatened a lawsuit against the city.[4]

The Post reported the next month that a top police official recommended discipline for a police sergeant who had ordered the march. No discipline was recommended for the four patrol officers in D.C.'s 3rd police district, who had followed the sergeant's orders to force the women to march. "Rules were broken," said Deputy Chief Edward J. Spurlock. "It was a breach of normal police procedure. ... It was not the crime of the century."[5]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c Dedman, Bill; Goldberg, Jeffrey (July 26, 1989). "March Clears Out Prostitution Zone; D.C. Police Criticized After Ordering Women to Walk to Va. Line". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 22, 2016. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
2. ^ Ayers Jr., B. Drummond (July 27, 1989). "Prostitutes Walk the Streets, to Virginia". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 20, 2018. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
3. ^ Carter, Elliot (September 2019). "The Night the Prostitutes Left Town: A look back at a bizarre 1989 incident that shows just how different Washington is today". Washingtonian.
4. ^ Goldberg, Jeffrey; Dedman, Bill (July 27, 1989). "Prostitution Zone March Becomes Thorn for D.C.; Va. Politicians, Union Decry Action by Police". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
5. ^ Goldberg, Jeffrey; Dedman, Bill (August 25, 1989). "Discipline for D.C. Sergeant Urged in Red Light District March". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 23, 2019.

* v
* t
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Prostitution in the United States

Areas|

* American Samoa
* California
* Prostitution in Los Angeles in the 19th century
* Guam
* Hawaii
* Nevada
* Rhode Island
* Texas

Brothels|

* 217 West Main Street
* Angel's Ladies
* Arnold's Bar and Grill
* Ash Meadows Sky Ranch
* Bird Cage Theatre
* Chicken Ranch (Nevada)
* Chicken Ranch (Texas)
* Cottontail Ranch
* Dennis Hof's Love Ranch
* Donna's Ranch
* Dumas Brothel
* Everleigh Club
* Fort Laramie Three-Mile Hog Ranch
* Gleim Building
* Kit Kat Guest Ranch
* Lester Apartments
* List of brothels in Nevada
* The Love Ranch
* Mary Todd Lincoln House
* Miss Hattie's Bordello
* Moonlite BunnyRanch
* Mustang Ranch
* No. 1 Geisha
* Old Bridge Ranch
* Paresis Hall
* Sagebrush Ranch
* Shady Lady Ranch
* Sheri's Ranch
* The Star
* Stone Jail Building and Row House
* Wild Horse Adult Resort & Spa
* Willis House

Law|

* Agency for International Development v. Alliance for Open Society International, Inc.
* 2013
* 2020
* Bennis v. Michigan
* Chamberlain–Kahn Act
* Mann Act
* Raines law
* Red Light Abatement Act
* Regulating Brothel Prostitution in St. Paul, 1865–1883

Media|

* American Pimp
* Dreamcatcher
* Secrets of a Hollywood Super Madam

Organizations|

* BAYSWAN
* COYOTE
* Equality Now
* Free the Slaves
* SWOP-USA

People|

| Activists|

* Norma Jean Almodovar
* Fred Cherry
* Committee of Fifteen
* Committee of Fourteen
* Robyn Few
* Melissa Gira Grant
* Carol Leigh
* Alice Little
* Rose Livingston
* Meg Muñoz
* New England Female Moral Reform Society
* New York Female Moral Reform Society
* Polaris Project
* Tracy Quan
* Audacia Ray
* Annie Sprinkle
* Margo St. James
* Sheila White

|

Brothel
owners
and
madams|

* Elizabeth Adams (aka, Madam Alex)
* Polly Adler
* Ah Toy
* Josephine Airey
* Brenda Allen
* Josie Arlington
* Dorothy Baker
* Sydney Biddle Barrows
* Big Sue
* Belle Brezing
* Julia Bulette
* Hilma Burt
* Nina Clifford
* Big Jim Colosimo
* Joseph Conforte
* Belle Cora (Arabella Ryan)
* Cora Crane
* Ana Cumpănaș
* Kristin M. Davis
* Phoebe Doty
* Dora DuFran
* Ada and Minna Everleigh
* Mame Faye
* Vina Fields
* Heidi Fleiss
* Jody Gibson
* Dante "Tex" Gill
* Mary Gleim
* Lou Graham
* Eunice Gray
* Mary Ann Hall
* Hester Jane Haskins
* Eliza Haycraft
* Mike Heitler
* Dennis Hof
* Mollie Johnson
* Lizzie Lape
* Kitty Leroy
* Red Light Lizzie
* Laura Bell McDaniel
* Adeline Miller
* Mother Damnable
* Meg Muñoz
* Deborah Jeane Palfrey
* Grace Peixotto
* Willie Piazza
* Poker Alice
* Fannie Porter
* Mattie Silks
* Sally Stanford
* Pearl Starr
* Libby Thompson
* Mary Thompson
* Kate Townsend
* Frederick Trump
* Deborah L. Turbiville
* Pearl de Vere
* Tessie Wall
* Lulu White
* Minnie White
* Anna Wilson
* Louise Wooster

Courtesans|

* Ashley Alexandra Dupré
* Lillie Langtry
* Fanny White

Pimps|

* Scotty Bowers
* Hester Jane Haskins
* Mike Heitler
* Dennis Hof
* Ice-T
* Iceberg Slim
* Don "Magic" Juan
* Red Light Lizzie
* Jack Ruby
* Lee Shelton
* Fillmore Slim
* Al Swearengen
* Dennis Tinerino

Prostitutes|

* Ah Toy
* Air Force Amy
* Josephine Airey
* Brenda Allen
* Norma Jean Almodovar
* Josie Arlington
* Mickey Avalon
* Dorothy Baker
* Richard Berkowitz
* Diamond Bessie
* Big Nose Kate
* Mattie Blaylock
* Scotty Bowers
* Gary Ray Bowles
* Sarah A. Bowman
* Brandi Britton
* Carrie Brown
* Julia Brown
* Julia Bulette
* Lisa Crystal Carver
* Sylvia Clevenger
* Andrew Cunanan
* Honeysuckle Divine
* Issan Dorsey
* Phoebe Doty
* Dora DuFran
* Pearl Elliott
* Robyn Few
* Alexis Fire
* Albert Fish
* Florrie Fisher
* Heidi Fleiss
* Ali Forney
* Denham Fouts
* Ronnie Lee Gardner
* Jody Gibson
* Billi Gordon
* Maggie Hall
* Fred Halsted
* Eliza Haycraft
* Toni Jo Henry
* Richard Holcomb
* Endesha Ida Mae Holland
* Xaviera Hollander
* Amber L. Hollibaugh
* Jason Holliday
* John Holmes
* Calamity Jane
* Helen Jewett
* Dean Johnson
* Mollie Johnson
* Robert La Tourneaux
* Jillian Lauren
* Kitty Leroy
* Rose Livingston
* Alice Little
* Annie Lobert
* Crazy Lou
* Brooke Magnanti
* Chicago May
* Rosa May
* Laura Bell McDaniel
* Adeline Miller
* Della Moore
* Tanya Moore
* Vicki Morgan
* Mother Featherlegs
* Jean O'Hara
* Barbara Payton
* Louise Peete
* Willie Piazza
* Fannie Porter
* Tracy Quan
* Tina Rodriguez
* Shalimar Seiuli
* Mattie Silks
* Valerie Solanas
* Almeda Sperry
* Annie Sprinkle
* Nancy Spungen
* Margo St. James
* Pearl Starr
* David Henry Sterry
* Star Stowe
* Sunset Thomas
* Estella Marie Thompson
* Libby Thompson
* Mary Ellen Tracy
* Tiger Tyson
* Pearl de Vere
* Sheila White
* Anna Wilson
* Louise Wooster
* Aileen Wuornos
* Venus Xtravaganza

Johns|

* Craig J. Spence
* Eliot Spitzer

Red-light districts|

* Barbary Coast, San Francisco
* The Block, Baltimore
* Broadway (San Francisco)
* Bucktown, Davenport
* Burnt District, Omaha
* Cheshire Bridge Road
* Chinatown, Honolulu
* Columbus Avenue (San Francisco)
* Combat Zone, Boston
* Creek Street (Ketchikan, Alaska)
* Fremont Street
* Hell's Half Acre (Fort Worth)
* Hunts Point, Bronx
* Kensington, Philadelphia
* Las Vegas Strip
* The Levee, Chicago
* Liberty Avenue (Pittsburgh)
* Minnesota Strip
* Murrell's Row
* Nevada State Route 582
* North Street (Boston)
* Northern Liberties, Philadelphia
* San Antonio Sporting District
* Sepulveda Boulevard
* Slabtown (Atlanta)
* SoHo, Manhattan
* Sporting District, Omaha
* Stingaree, San Diego
* Storyville, New Orleans
* Sunset Boulevard
* Tenderloin, Manhattan
* Tenderloin, San Francisco
* Times Square
* Venus Alley, Butte
* Western Avenue (Los Angeles)

Violence|

* Denver Prostitute Killer
* Disappearance of Jessie Foster
* Murder of Carrie Brown
* Murder of Tanya Moore and Tina Rodriguez

Other|

* 1989 DC Prostitute Expulsion
* Big Apple Oriental Tours
* Church penitentiary
* Commercial sexual exploitation of children
* Emperors Club VIP
* Hookers for Hillary
* John Hour
* John school
* Operation Stormy Nights
* Police abuse of sex workers
* Prostitution in Harlem Renaissance
* Sex trafficking
* Three minute men
* Truckers Against Trafficking

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