Dallas police won’t enforce controversial prostitution ordinance after court ruling

Dallas police will no longer enforce a controversial prostitution ordinance after a judge ruled it was unconstitutional, according to emails obtained Tuesday by The Dallas Morning News.

The “manifesting the purpose of engaging in prostitution” ordinance — a misdemeanor punishable with a fine of up to $500 — won’t be enforced by citations or arrests until further notice after discussions with the city attorney’s office, according to the emails sent by police officials to employees.

The move comes just days after County Criminal Court of Appeals Judge Kristin Wade ruled the law was unconstitutionally vague and overbroad. Catherine Cuellar, a city spokeswoman, said Tuesday the “City Attorney’s Office is aware of the court’s opinion, and we are considering the city’s options. The City has until mid-August to appeal.”

Texas law already penalizes the solicitation of prostitution. But police must meet a higher standard than the ordinance, which allows officers to issue a citation if a person is a known prostitute; repeatedly beckons to others or tries to engage them in conversation; or attempts to stop a vehicle by waving, hailing “or any other bodily gesture.”

The ordinance has been in place for decades but has long been criticized for the considerable leeway it affords officers. The Dallas City Code allows police to cite a person who loiters in a public place in a manner that is “manifesting the purpose” of soliciting prostitution. Critics argued it essentially criminalized “talking while walking.”

Dallas police spokespeople declined this week to specify how many citations and arrests were issued by the department under the ordinance, instead directing a reporter to file an open records request. The department has not yet responded to the request but has 10 business days to do so. A police spokeswoman directed inquiries Tuesday to the city attorney’s office.

Police were ramping up enforcement efforts in the department’s Northwest Patrol Division, which in June launched a new “prostitution task force,” or a group of officers who specialize in responding to prostitution issues.

Proponents of the ordinance argue the ruling could hinder police efforts to crack down on a long-standing problem frequently complained about by business owners and residents. The areas near Harry Hines Boulevard, Walnut Hill Lane and Shady Trail have long been regarded by police as the city’s main corridor for sex work.

Police officials say officers may need to lean more heavily on undercover work, which requires larger operations and is more dangerous.

Critics of the ordinance say it is vague, leads to questionable enforcement in over-policed areas and seeks a shortcut to fight crime that violates citizens’ constitutional rights.

The ordinance was challenged after Iqbal Jivani was cited last August on suspicion of loitering with the purpose of engaging in prostitution in the 11100 block of Shady Trail in northwest Dallas, according to court documents. Jivani was in a known prostitution area “and stopped to engage passers-by in conversation,” police alleged.

In her ruling last week, Wade agreed with a municipal judge that the ordinance punished constitutionally protected conduct like talking to passers-by and waving at cars. She wrote the law could result in bias toward areas with higher crime rates or lower-income populations. A citation could be issued in South Dallas for behavior considered lawful in North Dallas, she said.

Dallas has a similar ordinance for “manifesting the purpose of selling illegal drugs and chemicals,” which has also long faced scrutiny for its broad language and the wide discretion it gives police, according to a 2004 Dallas Observer article.

Other cities across the country have had similar laws face criticism for the broad leeway they give officers. In New York, a state anti-loitering law created to address prostitution was repealed in 2021. California repealed its anti-loitering law in 2022.

In Phoenix, Ariz., a civil rights group condemned a local ordinance after a transgender college student was prosecuted on charges of manifesting prostitution in 2014. That ordinance is still being used, and the majority of those facing charges in the past two years were Black, according to the Phoenix New Times.

”It kind of paves the way for sex workers to be criminalized just simply based on appearance,” said Savannah Kumar, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas.

Anyone could be criminalized because an officer believed them to be a sex worker, and being in a more heavily-policed area could put people at risk, Kumar said. When ordinances are overbroad, they can create a chilling effect on constitutionally protected actions because people are afraid of being criminalized or dealing with court proceedings as a result.

“That’s such a big harm in itself,” Kumar said. “It’s important to be thoughtful about the text of ordinances like these, even before they’re passed, so that those harms don’t actually manifest and that people are able to … have that freedom to express themselves in public spaces without that fear of criminalization.”