I understand the libertarian PoV, but whether anyone likes it or not Spitzer has seemingly violated federal law, The Mann Act, as well as the local laws of NY State and the District of Columbia by engaging in a money transaction for sex. He may also, based on the transcript, be a repeat offender and may even be involved in forwarding a criminal conspiracy. A person may think the laws are too intrusive to a person’s liberty, but until rescinded they are law, and he is the Chief Executive of New York State, charged under the state’s Constitution with faithfully executing the laws of the state.
It was only a state matter until money went from one state to another. Now it’s federal and he’s in trouble.
Some Mann Act info from wikipedia:
Mann Act case decisions by the United States Supreme Court
* Hoke v. United States (227 U.S. 308, 322) (1913). The Court held that Congress could not regulate prostitution per se, as that was strictly the province of the states. Congress could, however, regulate interstate travel for purposes of prostitution or “immoral purposes”.
* Athanasaw v. United States (227 U.S. 326, 328) (1913). The Court decided that the law was not limited strictly to prostitution, but to “debauchery” as well.
* Caminetti v. United States (242 U.S. 470, 484-85) (1917). The Court decided that the Mann Act applied not strictly to purposes of prostitution, but to other noncommercial consensual sexual liaisons. Thus consensual extramarital sex falls within the genre of “immoral sex”.
* Gebardi v. United States (287 U.S. 112) (1932). The Court held that the statutory intent was not to punish a woman’s acquiescence; therefore, consent by the woman does not expose her to liability.
* Cleveland v. United States (329 U.S. 14, 16-17) (1946). The Court decided that a person can be prosecuted under the Mann Act even when married to the woman if the marriage is polygamous. Thus polygamous marriage was determined to be an “immoral purpose”.
* Bell v. United States (349 U.S. 81, 83) (1955). The Supreme Court decided that simultaneous transportation of two women across state lines constituted only one violation of the Mann Act, not two violations.