Never Forget: The NYPD Arrests People Caught Carrying Condoms

The Village Voice and Vice both have feature stories this week all about how you can be arrested for carrying condoms, because they can be used by the police as evidence of prostitution. Which is, unfortunately, nothing new: it's a much criticized tactic that the NYPD have been using for years. The Voice does bring up an interesting question though: if a person is in possession of a condom distributed by NYC and they are then arrested with that condom used as major evidence, does it count as "entrapment"?

While it seems unlikely that this argument could fly (the Voice really just tiptoes around the idea), the Department of Health could try to put increased pressure on the city, considering it's making their program look bad. There is one major potential solution to this issue: the “No Condoms As Evidence Bill” was reintroduced in mid-January by Queens Democratic assemblywoman Barbara M. Clark and Brooklyn Democratic state senator Velmanette Montgomery, who first introduced the legislation in 1999.

Source: Here