That’s my take on the Deborah Jeane Palfrey case. The infamous “D.C. Madam,” as she has been dubbed, was found guilty recently of racketeering, money laundering and using the mail for illegal purposes in the operation of an escort service that was patronized by powerful men in the nation’s capital.

What she’s really guilty of is exposing the hypocrisy of an anti-sex society that can’t see and hear enough about sex. A society that upholds a Biblical view of human sexuality that is, at best, archaic and at worst insane.

Palfrey could face a sentence of up to 55 years in jail. It’s more likely she’ll get four to six. She shouldn’t get any time at all.

The woman should be applauded for selling her list of famous clients to the highest bidder and once again reminding us that those who stand most often on the platform of “decency” are the first to use her agency’s services. Her motive wasn’t pure: she sold the list to raise money for her defense.

Prostitution shouldn’t be a crime. It’s not called the world’s “oldest profession” for nothing. Sex has been a tool for manipulation and bartering since time began. The criminalization of it in this culture goes back to religious prohibition, not rational thinking. Prostitution is legal in only two places: parts of Nevada and all of Rhode Island, though in the latter state, street solicitation and running whore houses are not permitted.

Trials such as Palfrey’s only serve to highlight the basic unfairness of laws against prostitution. Our system targets the providers of sex. They’re the guilty ones, not the men who patronize them. The men may face temporary public disgrace if caught, but not criminal charges in most instances.

This double standard was in evidence at Palfrey’s trial. Thirteen former female employees of Palfrey’s business had to take the stand and recount, in detail, their sexual encounters with johns. None of the men who patronized the service were called to testify.

I wonder how the verdict would have turned out had Palfrey played the penitent old whore, ashamed of her “pitiful” life, ready to plead for mercy from the court. She could have broken down in tears on the stand and recounted an abusive childhood at the hands of a brute of a father. She could have said how she was forced into a life of “sin and depravity” by circumstances beyond her control.

She could even have denounced her profession and turned to rehab or Jesus.

Instead, she chose to say “screw you” to a system that awards men for scoring as much sex as they can while punishing the women who provide it for them.

Tommi Avicolli Mecca is a radical southern Italian queer atheist with a website: www.avicollimecca.com