California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom repealed a regulation final yr that prohibited loitering for prostitution functions. Now, Republicans within the Golden State are alleging that the transfer incentivizes human trafficking.
Senate Invoice 357, which repealed the regulation banning loitering with the intent to interact in prostitution, was launched by Democrat state Sen. Scott Wiener partially as a result of he mentioned transgender ladies had been disproportionately focused.
“It allowed law enforcement officials to arrest an individual, not primarily based on what they did, however primarily based solely on how an individual seems to be,” Wiener informed KGO-TV. “So an officer might arrest somebody as a result of they had been sporting tight clothes, excessive heels and further lipstick.”
The brand new regulation, which went into impact on Jan. 1, has sparked criticism from Republicans, together with GOP Meeting chief James Gallagher, who claims the measure permits criminal activity, together with human trafficking.
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“California Democrats’ coverage of legalizing crime is creating extra victims by the hour,” Gallagher mentioned in an announcement. “Below Democratic rule, households and companies are shifting out, whereas human traffickers are shifting in. It was clear from the get-go that this regulation would encourage and allow human trafficking, however that was apparently an appropriate consequence for the lawmakers who backed it.”
Critics slammed the invoice final week after scantily dressed or typically even bare ladies had been reportedly seen exterior an elementary faculty in Oakland. Native police have mentioned their palms are tied due to the brand new regulation, and so they can now not arrest folks partaking in loitering for prostitution. California Republicans have echoed the allegation.
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The regulation, nonetheless, didn’t make it authorized to stroll round bare in entrance of a faculty.
And, as Wiener highlighted, the regulation additionally doesn’t limit police from arresting folks for prostitution or solicitation.
“The police’s palms should not tied,” he mentioned. “They will arrest folks for soliciting, they’ll cite autos which might be stopped in the course of the road, they’ll arrest ‘johns,’ they’ll arrest pimps.”
Weiner additionally mentioned it’s a “cop-out” for police to assert the regulation is stopping them from doing something about suspected human trafficking because the downside has been round for a very long time.
Democrat Oakland Metropolis Councilman Noel Gallo informed KGO-TV that he believed a few of the younger ladies seen exterior the elementary faculty had been as younger as 15 years previous, resulting in allegations of attainable human trafficking.
The ladies’s actual ages are unknown, and it’s unclear if they’re actually victims of human trafficking.
The Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking, the most important anti-human trafficking group in California, supported Wiener’s laws.
This text was initially printed by foxnews.com. Learn the original article here.
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