The New Penal Code Left the Red Lights Burning
Washington's 1909 criminal code accidentally protected brothels from local crackdowns, and Northport's city fathers could only watch the glare.
The new penal code of the state of Washington makes no provision prohibiting red-light institutions. It is no offense against the peace and dignity of the state to conduct such institutions, and they are springing up all over the state in towns where they have been barred for years, and in towns that have recently rid themselves of that class of residents. North Yakima is one of the larger towns that has been free of the districts until recently. Northport, in Stevens county, is one of the towns in this section of the state where the lights are now burning brightly, and the city dads cannot stop the glare, as the code protects or will protect these people as soon as it goes into effect. The last session of the legislature passed some freak laws and neglected to pass some very good laws. The laws regarding the securing of a marriage license are the laughing stock of the country.
“Northport, in Stevens county, is one of the towns in this section of the state where the lights are now burning brightly, and the city dads cannot stop the glare, as the code protects or will protect these people as soon as it goes into effect.”
State law can still preempt local ordinances, and fights over vice, zoning, and public safety often turn on what the Legislature left out. In 1909 the omission let red-light districts reopen in towns like Northport; today similar questions about local control still shape Washington politics.
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