This is very confusing but if there's one thing I know it's that if Republicans ever mention protecting children it is never about protecting children and only about causing fake outrage so they can push oppressive policies and stoke culture wars
this post was submitted on 26 Jul 2023
22 points (76.2% liked)
politics
19072 readers
4097 users here now
Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!
Rules:
- Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.
Links must be to the original source, not an aggregator like Google Amp, MSN, or Yahoo.
Example:
- Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
- Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
- No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive. Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.
- Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
- No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning
We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.
All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.
That's all the rules!
Civic Links
• Congressional Awards Program
• Library of Congress Legislative Resources
• U.S. House of Representatives
Partnered Communities:
• News
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
Interesting. I'm always suspicious of new laws meant to protect minors because it seems like children are always used as an excuse to promote bigotry. Not always of course, but that has been the recent trend. It seems this bill passed the Senate unanimously and was killed in an assembly committee. Newsom personally backed it and got it back on track. That probably says more about the political and optics of voting down a "tough on crime" trafficking bill than it does the actual policy.
Isa Borgeson, a manager for the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, an advocacy organization opposed to SB 14, said the measure “does nothing to prevent the trafficking of minors or provide them with the healing that they need and deserve.”
“The people most vulnerable to being charged with trafficking are the victims of trafficking themselves. Charges are used to leverage their cooperation in prosecution and their survivor status is erased with many currently incarcerated in both youth and adult prisons,” Assembymember Isaac Bryan (D-Los Angeles), a close Rivas ally, wrote on Twitter. Bryan is a member of the Public Safety Committee, and abstained from voting on SB 14 both on Tuesday and Thursday.
“Nobody supports the trafficking of children or any people. That’s why existing laws carry the potential for life in prison. We can and must do more to affirm, protect, and support survivors with all of our civic resources — including those beyond the criminal legal system,” he wrote.
It sounds to me like the concern is victims of trafficking getting forced into helping with recruiting. I don't know much about this stuff, but I remember that was one of the ways Epstein worked - victimize one girl, then coerce her to bring a friend next time. Sick shit, but the concern is do we treat that first victim the same as we would treat Epstein? Do we allow prosecutors to use the threat of a life in prison to coerce victims to testify if they otherwise wouldn't want to?
So, is this a case of a Republican legislator successfully backing Democrats into a corner optically, such that if they vote no Democrats get labeled as supporting child trafficking, while at the same time the law would work to turn victims of trafficking into criminals, to the potential detriment of victims? Or are some Democrats overly worried about edge cases? I don't know, this shit is complicated, and this is why policy shouldn't be reduced to headlines and talking points.
Chaos erupted in the Democratic-controlled Legislature after the committee’s vote, with Republican lawmakers blaming Democrats for failing to crack down on child sex trafficking and Democrats blaming Republicans for failing to address the root causes of crime.
This makes more sense. The issue isn't stopping trafficking but punishment for it. Stopping it should be the priority.
view more: next ›