A ballot initiative launched by an anti-prostitution crusader who recently staged his own disappearance as a protest would shut down Nevada's legal brothels if it becomes state law.
Milo John Reese staged his own disappearance in early November, with a search starting after his abandoned car was found east of Reno Nov. 8 with a smashed window and a blood-stained seat - his own blood, it turned out.
It was found, in fact, near the now-defunct Mustang Ranch brothel, closed down in a federal tax case. Reese shortly admitted he staged the disappearance to publicize his claim that prostitutes are leaving their legal brothels in rural counties to work illegally in Las Vegas and Reno, the Associated Press says.
His initiative petition calls for a change in the law to ban prostitution and impose misdemeanor penalties for violations. He'll need 44,009 signatures from registered voters in order to get the initiative to the 2001 Nevada State legislature. If the lawmakers don't act, the initiative would go on the 2002 general ballot.
Reese, who once admitted to having been a frequent prostitution customer as a younger man, now says it degrades women and stands against Biblical teachings. He's tried to shut down brothels for years, claiming the state Health Division has covered up information showing a woman with AIDS worked in a legal brothel.
Nevada law now lets counties choose whether to legalize brothels, though prostitution is not legal in main tourism areas. There are said to be 30 brothels now operating in the rural counties, including several close to Las Vegas, Reno, and Carson City.
Reese's petition began roughly, the AP says - he filed papers saying erroneously that signatures were to be sent to organizers of another ballot plan for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages. That plan's organizers said Reese apparently borrowed a signature sheet and forgot to delete a reference to their group, the AP says.
And it won't be easy for him to finance his initiative, the AP says - he still has to pay thousands to cover the costs of the disappearance stunt mounted by authorities who believed he might have been killed.
A week or so later, Reese was spied withdrawing money from a Sacramento, California automatic teller machine and he was compelled to surrender to Las Vegas police and admit his disappearance was a protest stunt.
