fore, be said that legislative enactments have very much influence on the prevalence of homosexuality. The chief effect seems to be that the attempt at suppression arouses the finer minds among the sexual inverts to undertake the enthusiastic defense of homosexuality, while coarser minds are stimulated to cynical bravado."

But, while the law probably has had no more influence in repressing abnormal sexuality than, whenever it has tried to do so, it has had in repressing or making unpopular the normal sexual instinct, it has served to foster another offense. What is called blackmailing in England, chantage in France, and Erpressung in Germany in other words, the extortion of money by threats of exposing some real or fictitious offense finds its chief field of activity in connection with male homosexuality.

Hirschfeld states in an interesting study of blackmailing (7) that his experience shows that among 10,000 homosexual persons, hardly one falls a victim to the law, but over 3,000 are victimized by blackmailers.

If Hirschfeld is correct, it is apparent a very small proportion of homosexuals are prosecuted. This undoubtedly is so. Yet there are over 200 arrests in the city of Los Angeles each year on P.C. 288 A, the most serious of the sections, and there are several score reported cases. Since my audience is composed of non-lawyers, I will explain how a case comes to be "reported."

There are four steps: First, the legislature enacts a statute. Next, the law enforcement officers, that is, police and prosecutors, make arrests and prosecute often exercising considerable judgment, that is, they themselves decide whether or not to arrest or to prosecute. The case is brought to the trial court, that is, the court that tries those who are prosecuted and sentences those who are convicted. The decisions of trial courts are rarely "reported," that is, embalmed in books for posterity to read. Of course, statistics may be kept but individual decisions are rarely written up. Should the losing party in the trial court have the interest and the means to further contest the matter, he perfects an appeal, that is, he takes the case to the appropriate appellate court. The decisions of the appellate courts are almost uniformly set forth at length in consecutively numbered and dated books which are called "Reports." The facts are reviewed and reasons for the appellate court's conclusions are given. Appellate court decisions are binding on all lower courts in the particular jurisdiction.

We will now consider in more detail the four steps above outlined. First, the applicable statutes:

"California Penal Code Section 286. (Crime against nature: punishment.) Every person who is guilty of the infamous crime against nature, committed with mankind or with any animal, is punishable by imprisonment in the State prison not less than one nor more than ten years."

Since the sections are short, I will also read two definitive, in-between ones that are pertinent to our subject:

"Section 287: Penetration sufficient to complete the crime. Any sexual penetration, however slight, is sufficient to complete the crime against nature.

"Section 288: (Crimes against children: Lewd or lascivious acts: Punishment.) Any person who shall wilfully and lewdly commit any lewd or lascivious act including any of the acts constituting other crimes provided for in part one of this code upon or with the body, or any part or member thereof, of a child under the age of fourteen years, with the intent of arousing, appealing to, or gratifying the lust or passions or sexual desires of such person or of such child, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be imprisoned in the State prison for a term of one year to life.

"Section 288a: (Sex perversions: Punishment.) Any person participating in the act of copulating the mouth of one person with the sexual organ of ano-

one

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