Solicitation in a legal context is a crime, and it refers to the action of persuading or inducing someone to commit or engage in criminal activity. It is the offer of contribution or funds to someone with the expectation of criminal conduct on their part. In order to be illegal, the action requested and suggested by the solicitor must be criminal. Hitmen and prostitutes are examples of people that are commonly solicited. There are two required elements for a solicitation charge and prosecution in the United States criminal justice system. In order to be considered a solicitation, the request must require criminal activity, and the solicitor must have plans to contribute to the crime. One familiar example might be fa*gin, from Oliver Twist, who hires children to be pickpockets. Although he does not engage in the activity directly himself, he provides the education and means for participating in it.
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Solicitation Laws
A definition can become complicated in solicitation law because it is difficult to conceptualize in American jurisdiction. Solicitation in a non-criminal context is used colloquially, as people can solicit services legally as well. The federal laws regarding solicitation allow for an arrest before the criminal activity occurs. It just needs to be shown that the inciter of the crime, the solicitor, requested, commanded, or persuaded another person to engage in criminal activity. When money exchanges hands, or some other compensation, it becomes much easier to prove in a court of law.
Solicitation laws vary across states, but all require a clear expectation of criminal activity and participation in that activity by the defendant. Most often applied to prostitution on a state level, solicitation law can also be applied to soliciting money and other things illegally and is taken quite seriously in many states. In Texas, for example, solicitation of prostitution is a felony; in Massachusetts, solicitation of prostitution is a misdemeanor with a fine of up to $500 or jail time up to a year.
Consequences of Solicitation
The most common legal consequences of a solicitation crime typically involve a fine. Although it varies from state to state, improper solicitation of prostitution in most states is punishable by a fine or brief jail time up to a year. However, consequences will be higher in certain states where the crime is taken more seriously. In states where solicitation is a felony, it is possible to be imprisoned for up to two years. The federal law regarding solicitation stipulates that if the punishment for the crime solicited is life imprisonment or the death penalty, the solicitor could be imprisoned for up to twenty to forty years. This means that where evidence of solicitation of murder exists, punishment will be much more significant than a solicitation of prostitution charge, for example. In some cases, the sentence might be almost as much as killing someone oneself instead of soliciting the service.
As with most criminal defenses, defenses for someone charged with a solicitation crime can include saying one did not do it or did not have criminal intent behind it. It is possible to solicit a prostitute without knowing that one is soliciting a prostitute, for example, and this is often used as a defense in the case of a solicitation charge. Another defense used is if the alleged solicitor initially planned on criminal intent but then recanted, or decided against the action.
Examples of Solicitation
- In 2020, Joe Exotic, star of the riveting documentary on Netflix entitled Tiger King, was sentenced to 22 years in prison for his ''murder-for-hire'' plot. This could also be called ''solicitation of murder,'' a situation wherein the Tiger King hired someone to kill his nemesis and rival, Carole Baskin. The two were in conflict over Joe's unethical ownership and treatment of exotic animals, specifically tigers. Baskin, an animal rights activist with an exotic animals sanctuary, presented an irritation to Joe Exotic because she did not agree with him. In 2017, he was recorded offering $10,000 to an undercover agent to kill Carole Baskin.
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- In May of 2022, almost a dozen men were arrested in Johnson County, Indiana, for child solicitation in a three-day span. It was part of a sting targeted at uncovering individuals soliciting underage children. It was accomplished by agents pretending to be 14-year-old girls online, who then lured the men to a house where they were arrested. The actions counted as solicitation because the men (1) suggested and expected sexual activity with a minor, the criminal behavior, and (2) they intended to participate in that action, many of the individuals at least 30 or 40 years of age.
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