Just when you think California can’t get anymore bizarre, the California legislature has passed a bill that will make child prostitution legal beginning January 1st. SB 1322 bars children, girls and boys, from being arrested for prostitution or for soliciting prostitution on the streets. From the Washington Examiner:
This terribly destructive legislation was written and passed by the progressive Democrats who control California’s state government with a two-thirds “supermajority.” To their credit, they are sincere in their belief that decriminalizing underage prostitution is good public policy that will help victims of sex trafficking. Unfortunately, the reality is that the legalization of underage prostitution suffers from the fatal defect endemic to progressive-left policymaking: it ignores experience, common sense and most of all human nature — especially its darker side.
The unintended but predictable consequence of how the real villains — pimps and other traffickers in human misery — will respond to this new law isn’t difficult to foresee. Pimping and pandering will still be against the law whether it involves running adult women or young girls. But legalizing child prostitution will only incentivize the increased exploitation of underage girls. Immunity from arrest means law enforcement can’t interfere with minors engaging in prostitution — which translates into bigger and better cash flow for the pimps. Simply put, more time on the street and less time in jail means more money for pimps, and more victims for them to exploit.
So pimps will use underage girls because those children will not be subject to arrest. Better for the pimps! This is a terrible bill that will hurt children. Are California legislators really this clueless? Apparently so.
Only in California. More here.