ISSUE:
Whether soliciting for prostitution from a balcony or a window that faces a public street constitutes an offense under Section 1(1) of the Street Offences Act, 1959 (“Act”), which prohibits soliciting "in a street or public place"?
RULE:
The Mischief Rule of statutory interpretation directs the court to consider the intent behind the statute and the "mischief" that the statute was meant to address.
Section 1(1) of the Street Offences Act, 1959, makes it an offense for a "common prostitute to loiter or solicit in a street or public place for the purpose of prostitution."