UPDATE (Thursday afternoon) — The Free Speech Coalition today called new “pandering” legislation “reprehensible” and urged members and supporters to voice their opposition to California Senate Bill 1204.
SACRAMENTO — A California bill that aims to broaden the definition of “pandering” is wending its way through the Legislature.
Introduced in February, California Senate Bill 1204 will be weighed before the state Senate Committee on Public Safety in its first public discussion on Tuesday, April 17, at the state Capitol in Sacramento. The measure will be one of 16 bills discussed at the hearing.
Introduced by state Sen. Patricia Bates, it is unknown as to exactly why the lawmaker introduced the bill. An office aide to Bates declined to discuss aspects of the bill with XBIZ.
What is for sure, however, is that the bill makes huge changes that could potentially ensnare more criminal defendants when it comes to sex work. SB 1204 specifically amends California’s statute on pandering by seeking to cast a wider net, making it easier to charge individuals who act as third parties.
New language in the pandering bill says, “A person who arranges, causes, encourages, induces, persuades, or procures another person to be a prostitute, with the intent that the other person engage in an act of prostitution, is guilty of pandering, a felony ….”
Through SB 1204, Bates’ bill would make it a felony to provide any help or outreach to sex workers, including harm-reduction services like distributing condoms or providing bad-date lists.
Industry attorney Gill Sperlein told XBIZ that the sex worker industry has seen “an alarming rise” of legislation like SB 1204.
“Though proponents claim to target human trafficking, its clear that the real target is all sex work,” Sperlein said. “The legislation stems from a paternalistic notion that men and women cannot make adult decisions for themselves.
“Just as the move to decriminalize cannabis and reform all drug laws suggested that the country was moving in the direction of more personal autonomy, we see this kind of backward thinking regressive legislation. I hope the citizenry will resist.”
Check out the SB 1204 here.
