Opposing
Prop 35, the CASE
Act
"a dangerous initiative"
commentary-image
linked at sexandthe405.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/PROP35.jpg |
Featured
items:
Comprehensive
summary by Southern Californa Attorney: I Despise Human Trafficking,
but I Oppose the Badly Drafted Prop 35 by
Greg Diamond, 7/31/2012
Prop
35, Youth, Sex Trade and Sex Trafficking-Interview
with Alexandra Lutnick, Researcher by Carol Leigh with SWOP/Bay Area
11/2/2012
California's
Prop 35: A Misguided Ballot Initiative Targeting the Wrong People
for the Wrong Reasons by Melissa Gira Grant, RH Reality
Check, 11/1/2012
SAGE
and Chab Dai Rescind their endorsements of Prop 35! We must ask ‘why’?,
by John Vanek 10/26/2012
Why
yes on Prop. 39 but no on Prop. 35 Endorsement, LA Times,
11/1/2012
No
on Proposition 35 – The CASE Act, Commentary
by Kathleen Kim, Anti-Human
Trafficking Advocates, 9/26/2012
Don’t
Undermine Victims’ Rights in Fighting Sex Trafficking
by Kathleen Kim, Kevin Kish and Cindy Liou, Pacific Standard, 10/18/2012
Prop
35: More harm than good for victims of human trafficking
by Perla Flores,
Lynette Parker and John Vanek 9/28/2012 (Anti-trafficking Activists
Oppose Prop 35)
Prop.
35's sex-crimes focus too narrow by Edith Kinney, San
Francisco Chronicle 9/23/2012
Who's
a sex trafficker? by
Yael Chanoff, San Francisco Bay Guardian, 9/18/2012
Retired
Lieutenant John Vanek: "No
on Prop 35 – CASE Act: A Detailed Examination of the Initiative"
Prop.
35 – Not the Human Rights Approach Needed to Fight Human Trafficking
by Noam Perry, Justice Studies Visiting Professor, 10/29/12
Past Events
San
Francisco: Sex Worker groups invite you to a Public Forum on Prop
35
Monday, October 29 at 12 noon steps of City Hall, Polk Street
side
Video: Prop
35-Sex Worker Groups Challenge Billionaire Proponent To Debate
Panel
Discussion about Proposition 35 (the CASE Act) on human
trafficking in California Stanford
University, 6 PM 10/23/2012
Los
Angeles: Press Conference for the "No on Prop 35"
campaign
Friday,
October 26th at 12 noon Van Nuys Courthouse West, Van
Nuys, California
"Black
Women for Wellness fully understands the devastating
impact that human trafficking has on our families and
our communities. However proposition 35 is not the answer.
This measure seeks to increase sentences for human traffickers
and sex offenders, however because of the broad
definitions of this law, many young black and brown
women and men are at risk for unnecessarily being targeted.
How? Because of the loose definitions
of trafficking, under this proposition, an 18 year old
who take his/her partner out for dinner and a movie
and then engages in sex could be seen as a trafficker.
In addition, it could punish anyone who associates with
minor sex workers, even if their only intent was to
buy him/her food or give he/she a ride to the store.
Yes the odds of this seem rare, but knowing
many communities of color relationships with law enforcement,
it’s not much of a reach to imagine a
California in which this happen if prop 35 passes. Furthermore,
this law punishes all people prosecuted as sex offenders
to have their internet usage monitored for life. Yes
this even includes the 18 year old we mentioned above.
Black Women for Wellness wants to address trafficking,
however not at the expensive of young people of color."
--Black
Women for Wellness
"the
California Trafficking Victims Protection Act... advanced
the rights of human trafficking survivors through a
victim-centered, human-rights framework by
providing them with access to social services, a path
to immigration relief under federal law, mandatory restitution
and a robust civil cause of action. Prop 35
will roll back these protections....the CASE
Act, however unwittingly, will change our current
anti-trafficking laws in ways that disempower the actual
survivors of human trafficking."
--
Kathleen Kim, Kevin Kish and Cindy Liou (Civil Rights
Attorneys working with trafficking victims in California)
"Prop 35
will discourage sex workers from seeking help when
they are subjected to force and violence for fear
of being caught in the criminal legal system…dangers
and the deceptive methods...to increase criminalization of women
and transgender people in the name of fighting human trafficking...Costs
the state of California several million dollars to enforce."
-- California Coalition for
Women Prisoners
"...lavish
sponsorship by what the Sacramento Bee calls ”a
politically ambitious financial angel”
…. under cover of fighting human trafficking,
they would raise the penalties for commercial
sex to an outlandish degree — and
define commercial sex extremely broadly….The
shocker is that CASE Act could literally make
penalties for statutory rape greater than those for
violent rape. The CASE Act is more of an anti-prostitution
law than an anti-modern-day-slavery law. More than
that, it’s an law that is anti-”statutory rape” — a
term meaning simply underage sex."
--Greg Diamond, The Orange Juice Blog
"What will happen to those fines totaling
millions of dollars? That's one of the problems
with this initiative. It would lock up 100 percent
of those funds to help supporters of Proposition 35."
--
Ventura County Star
"Proposition
35 has several flaws, including proposing different
sentencing standards for offenders who exploit victims
for labor or services, as opposed to commercial sex
offenses. This is an insult to
every victim forced to work in domestic service, agricultural
fields, sweat shops, restaurants, or other forms of
slavery that do not include sex. The
CASE Act even neglects to address the difference between
minor victims (i.e., under age 18) and adults in labor
cases!"
--John
Vanek's Human Trafficking Blog
"The
real goal is to gain access to asset forfeiture to
benefit the endorsing law enforcement agencies and non-profits....Proposition
35 has no oversight or accountability. This will open the
door to corrupt practices we’ve seen before in drug enforcement...."
--Maxine
Doogan and Manual Jimenez
"The
US Government reports that 90% of the cases of child sexual
exploitation are at the hands of someone whom the child knows and
trusts- like family members. …Prop 35 does
nothing to protect the victims of these predators…"
--Norma
Jean Almodovar, COYOTE, Los Angeles
"Such
measures push sex workers, the majority of whom are mothers
and young people, further underground and into greater danger...Deters
young people from coming forward to report exploitation,
rape, trafficking and other violence".
--USPROStitutes
Collective
"The
inability to see the differences between sex work and sexual slavery
thwarts efforts and taxes resources set aside for identifying, freeing
and protecting actual victims of slavery, …targeting
sex workers makes it harder for them to come forward about
abuse, murder, and other crimes — including knowledge of sexual
slavery and trafficking."
--AV
Fox, Sex and the 405
"It has an expansive definition of commercial sex
that is way beyond how prostitution is defined. Frankly, in our capitalist
society, I think you would be hard pressed to find any sex
that isn't commercial under this."
--Cynthia
Chandler, Attorney, co- founder Justice Now
"If
people truly care about preventing human trafficking, resources
should be directed toward ending child abuse and incest in the home;
better services for runaways who are often escaping abuse
and homophobia; and investing in education and employment opportunities
for women and girls..."
--Stacey
Swimme, Innovative Thinking on The Sex Industry and Social Justice
Featured
Item from California Coalition for Women
Prisoners 9/4/2012:
Vote
NO on 35, CASE Act- "Proposition 35 - A dangerous
initiative" says California Coalition for Women
Prisoners
CCWP
is writing to circulate information about Proposition
35, the CASE Act (Californians Against Sexual Exploitation).
An informational flyer is below. Yes, CCWP is against
sexual exploitation, but this initiative plays upon
public concern about human trafficking and the trafficking
of minors to amp up sentencing, fines and the criminalization
of sex workers.
You may not have heard much about Prop 35 before this.
Unfortunately, the rich funders behind the proposition
have done a very good job lining up the support of women's
and other progressive organizations, as well as law
enforcement. There is very little information out there
about the problems with Prop 35. The U.S. PROStitutes
collective, the Sex Worker Outreach Project (SWOP) and
the Erotic Service Providers Union among others have
come together to oppose Prop 35, but they are up against
a very well-financed, well-messaged campaign and are
fighting to get the word out.
VOTE
NO ON PROPOSITION 35 -
CASE ACT (Californians Against Sexual Exploitation)
"A dangerous initiative"
writes California Coalition for Women Prisoners
Prop 35 exploits the public’s concern about
human trafficking and the trafficking of minors to
heighten criminalization of sex workers and all those
associated with them. It increases prison sentences
and fines, expands sex offender registration for all
those convicted of trafficking, and clamps down on
internet use for anyone convicted of trafficking for
their entire lives.
Human Trafficking is already illegal in California.
Prop 35 broadens the definition of trafficking and
makes the penalties more severe, expanding the role
of law enforcement agencies in targeted raids against
sex workers and fueling the growth of the prison system.
Prop 35:
· Further criminalizes sex workers, most of
whom are women (majority mothers) and young, transgender
and immigrant people. It can be used as a pretext
to label sex workers themselves as pimps and traffickers.
Prop 35 will discourage sex workers from seeking help
when they are subjected to force and violence for
fear of being caught in the criminal legal system.
· Targets undocumented sex workers for arrest
and deportation through police sweeps under the guise
of “searching” for trafficked victims
who are minors.
· Criminalizes anyone that associates with
a minor involved in prostitution regardless of whether
there was any force or coercion involved.
· Increases police power to detain and interrogate
people under the pretext of looking for trafficked
minors and increases funding for law enforcement training
to find traffickers.
· Channels money to victims’ services
and non-profit agencies that work hand-in-hand with
law enforcement, ICE and Homeland Security, giving
those agencies a vested interest in the fines that
are charged to those convicted of trafficking.
· Requires all people convicted of trafficking
to register as sex offenders for life.
· Monitors the internet use of all those convicted
as traffickers for life.
· Costs the state of California several million
dollars to enforce.
Proposition 35 was initiated by non-profit California
Against Slavery and is funded primarily by millionaire
Chris Kelly, former Chief Privacy Officer for Facebook
who ran unsuccessfully for state Attorney General
against Kamala Harris in 2010. CASE may be his bid
to win elected office in the future. By using emotionally
charged terms like slavery and trafficking, Prop 35
has won the endorsement of a wide range of politicians
and groups across the state – no one wants to
be accused of being for human trafficking.
Human trafficking is a real problem but it cannot
be solved by harsher laws and more police crackdowns.
Sex workers and real victims of trafficking need supportive
community services, options for employment, and educational
programs that do not work hand-in-hand with law enforcement,
Homeland Security and ICE .
The law enforcement, pro-prison, anti-woman, anti-trans
agenda behind Prop 35 needs to be exposed and defeated!
California
Coalition for Women Prisoners
www.womenprisoners.org
With information from US
PROStitutes Collective www.prostitutescollective.net
