Why California Legislature Won’t Pass a Law Making Child Sex Trafficking a Felony?

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You might believe that if your state allows three strikes that this is a serious offense.

It’s not true in the Golden State. The Democrat-controlled Golden State legislature can’t even be bothered passing a law making child sex trafficking a felony. Following a vote against the bill by Democrats on the Assembly Public Safety committee and pressure from Governor Gavin Newsom who spoke out only because he wants to run for president, lawmakers reconsidered the measure and passed it. Is common sense back in Sacramento

Nope. On Wednesday, the Assembly Appropriations Committee placed the bill in question – Senator Shannon Grove’s AB 14 – into its “suspense file”.

Grove says that the Appropriations suspense file is a committee procedure whereby bills with an impact of more than $150,000 on the budget will be held until a decision about whether or not they should pass is made based on their cost.

Grove has released a statement explaining the importance of this bill.

I hope that when the Appropriations Committee evaluates the costs of incarcerating traffickers, they will also consider the services associated with rehabilitation for victims and survivors. Selling a child repeatedly for rape is so grotesque that it has to be stopped.

She said that California is one of the worst states for human trafficking in the U.S. and that thousands of people, many of whom are minors, are forced into sexual and work exploitation each year. Oh, why, oh why, do these people find it so hard to make such a heinous crime a felony?

Grove:

We must protect our children from predators lurking online and elsewhere, ready to exploit the most vulnerable.

It is not uncommon for California to experience this. Human trafficking is an extremely serious crime that deserves severe consequences.

California legislators are well aware of the severity of the situation.