Act Now: Contact Committee Members, Immediately
S.B. 304 On Committee Agenda March 8th at 1:00 p.m., Room 307 LOB
S.B. 304 is this year’s first attempt to decriminalize juvenile prostitution, masturbation for hire and juvenile participation in pornography. Republican Senators Renee Unterman and Jack Murphy stood alone to introduce S.B. 304 January 12, 2010, with no other co sponsor, possibly, due to its drastic departure from moral standards set by society and the vast majority of parents.
If S.B. 304 had passed as initially introduced, any child under age 16 could freely earn money in prostitution, masturbation for hire and pornography. They could not be arrested or charged for a crime, because those behaviors wouldn’t be illegal for them until their 16th birthday.
When S.B. 304 met with strong opposition from conservative activists who publicized the problems in her bill, Senator Unterman produced a far broader and much worse substitute. She (a) removed from criminal law three acts, if committed by juveniles – prostitution, masturbation for hire and pornographic involvement. Then, (b) redefined such acts by juveniles as “sexual exploitation” and (c) added that term to behaviors defining an “unruly child.” Thus, indicating that working in those illegal professions would be no more serious than skipping school.
But, there’s more to S.B. 304. By redefining each underage sex worker as an “unruly child,” assumed to be a victim of sexual exploitation, juveniles engaging in prostitution, masturbation for hire and pornography would be (d) eligible for victim compensation payments. Not only could juvenile sex workers freely work without legal restriction or penalty, they could become (e) eligible for double payment for doing so – once by the john, who’s the client, and again by the state’s victim compensation fund, that dispenses thousands of dollars to victims of crime.
ACTION – Oppose. Before 1:00 p.m. Monday, call these Judiciary Committee Senators: Smith, Ch., 404 656-0034; Harp, 463-3931; Hamrick, 656-0036; Adelman, 463-1376; Brown, 656-5035; Cowsert, 651-7738; Crosby, 463-5258; Fort, 656-5091; Judson Hill, 656-0150; Ramsey, 463-2598; Seabaugh, 656-6446; and Wiles 657-0406. Caution: If this passes the House and a similar bill passes the Senate, they could be combined into a massive bill in conference committee.
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