Fate of California’s Anti-Child-Sex-Trafficking Bill Hangs in Limbo

Downtown Los Angeles on June 9, 2021. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

A California bill to toughen the sentencing of repeated child sex traffickers has stalled again in the Legislature, this time after having been placed on a list of hundreds of bills that can be killed without a vote or public explanation.

Senate Bill 14, sponsored by Republican state Sen. Shannon Grove, would classify human trafficking of a minor for sex as a “serious felony.” The change means that offenders would fit California’s “three-strike” sentencing scheme, where a third-striker faces a mandatory sentence of 25 years to life in prison, with no time off for good behavior or working.

The bill, which only made it out of the the Assembly Public Safety Committee after Democrats reversed course amid public outrage, on Wednesday landed in the Senate Appropriations Committee and entered a process called “suspense file.” That file is reserved for bills that could cost the state more than $50,000 from the general fund or $150,000 from any of the state’s special funds.

On a twice-a-year hearing on suspense files, committee leaders run through hundreds of bills in two hours, reading out a bill’s number and then announcing if it is passed or held on suspense. There is no testimony or discussion, and the committee does not explain to the public why any of the bills are blocked.

The next special hearing for bills on suspense is scheduled for Sept. 1.

“As the Appropriations Committee is evaluating the cost of incarcerating traffickers, I hope they will also take into account the basic services associated with the life-long rehabilitation of victims and survivors of this brutal crime,” Ms. Grove said in a statement. “There is no price tag that can be placed on a victim of human trafficking, especially a child.”

She cited a recent operation in Kern County where 22 perpetrators were arrested on a variety of charges related to human trafficking and child sexual exploitation. “This is happening all across California,” she said. “It’s time we call human trafficking what it really is, a serious crime that deserves a serious consequence.”

The state senator’s call also comes against the backdrop of this year’s “Operation Cross Country,” a nationwide joint FBI initiative with state and local agencies to crack down on sex trafficking. During the first two weeks of August, FBI and state and local law enforcement found 59 victims of child sex trafficking and sexual exploitation and arrested 126 suspects.

Democrats Reverse Course

While California remains one of the United States’ top destinations for human trafficking, Senate Bill 14 was initially struck down by Democrats on the Assembly Public Safety Committee.

On July 11, the committee blocked Senate Bill 14, with the only two Republicans voting in favor and all six Democratic members refusing to vote at all.

Assembly member Liz Ortega, who joined fellow Democrats in blocking the bill, told The Washington Free Beacon that this was “a complex issue,” arguing that harsher penalties for offenders doesn’t address the root cause of the crime.

“Sending someone to prison for the rest of their lives is not going to fix the harm moving forward,” she told the Beacon.

The move triggered a bipartisan outrage in the state Senate, where the bill was unanimously approved in May. The committee’s Democrats also drew ire from more than 100 organizations and individuals who registered their support for the measure, including human trafficking survivors, human right groups, district attorney’s offices, police departments, and municipalities.

Facing the public outcry, Gov. Gavin Newsom intervened with a promise to revive the proposal. The day after the committee vote, he called Ms. Grove to tell her that he was “surprised” by the committee vote. After the call, Newsom told reporters that he takes the matter “very seriously,” and that he “cares deeply” about the issue of child trafficking.

The committee voted on Senate Bill 14 again on July 13, passing this time with six votes in favor, while two Democrats, Assembly Majority Leader Isaac Bryan and Assembly member Mia Bonta, still abstained from voting.

“The people most vulnerable to being charged with trafficking are the victims of trafficking themselves,” Mr. Bryan wrote on Twitter after the second vote, appearing to argue that black people, who can trace their ancestry to slaves brought to America from Africa, are more likely to be convicted of human trafficking.

“Nobody supports the trafficking of children or any people. That’s why existing laws carry the potential for life in prison,” he added. “We can and must do more to affirm, protect, & support survivors with all of our civic resources—including those beyond the criminal legal system.”

Meanwhile, Ms. Ortega offered a public apology, calling the initial vote a “bad decision.”

“Voting against legislation targeting really bad people who traffic children was wrong,” she wrote on Twitter. “I regret doing that and I am going to help get this important legislation passed into law.”