Americana: Best Little List in Texas

The brothel run by Theresa Brown in San Antonio may not have been the best little whorehouse in Texas, but from all appearances its business was satisfactory. Brown kept a list of clients that allegedly included the names of some 3,000 prominent south Texas politicians, judges, businessmen and sports figures. After her establishment was raided by police last October, Brown gave the list to Armandina Saldivar, a writer for El Pueblo, a local newspaper that appears about once a month. When Brown was convicted of “aggravated promotion of prostitution,” the paper began laying plans to publish the names.

Not so fast, said Brown, who is seeking a new trial. She obtained a temporary restraining order blocking publication. Last week the paper managed to get the order lifted, and El Pueblo printed the first 19 names; editors are now busily preparing to run off 40,000 copies of the remainder of the list. No one in San Antonio doubts who the first 3,000 buyers will be.