BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



          SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
                             Senator Loni Hancock, Chair
                                2015 - 2016  Regular 

          Bill No:    SB 420        Hearing Date:    April 21, 2015    
          
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |Author:    |Huff                                                 |
          |-----------+-----------------------------------------------------|
          |Version:   |April 6, 2015                                        |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |Urgency:   |No                     |Fiscal:    |No               |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |Consultant:|JM                                                   |
          |           |                                                     |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 


                               Subject:  Prostitution



          HISTORY

          Source:   Alameda County District Attorney and Los Angeles  
          County District Attorney

          Prior Legislation:SB 1366 (Lieu) - Ch. 714, Stats. 2014
                         SB 982 (Huff) - Held in Senate Appropriations,  
          2014
                         AB 12 (Swanson) - Ch. 75, Stats. 2011
                         AB 17 (Swanson) - Ch. 211, Stats. 2009
                         
          Support:  Peace Officers Research Association of California;  
                    California Police Chiefs Association; California  
                    District Attorneys Association 

          Opposition:California Public Defenders Association; California  
          Attorneys for Criminal    Justice

                                       PURPOSE


          The purpose of this bill is to define and divide the crime of  
          prostitution into three separate forms:  1) the defendant agreed  
          to receive compensation for a lewd act; 2) the defendant  
          provided compensation, or agreed to provide compensation, for a  








          SB 420  (Huff )                                           PageB  
          of?
          
          lewd act to an adult; and 3) the defendant provided  
          compensation, or agreed to provide compensation, to a minor in  
          exchange for a lewd act, regardless of which party made the  
          initial solicitation.  

          Existing law requires the California Department of Justice to  
          collect data from law enforcement agencies about "the amount and  
          types of offenses known to the public authorities."  (Pen.Code §  
          13000 and 13002.)  DOJ must:

                 Prepare and distribute forms and electronic means for  
               reporting crime data.

                 Recommend the form and content of records to "ensure the  
               correct reporting of data?" and instruct agencies in the  
               collecting, keeping and reporting of crime data.

                 Process, interpret and analyze crime data.

          Existing law requires law enforcement agencies, as specified,  
          district attorneys, the Department of Correction and other  
          entities to do the following:

                 Install and maintain records for reporting statistical  
               data.

                 Report data to DOJ "in the manner [DOJ] prescribes."   
               (Pen. Code § 13020.)

          Existing law provides that prostitution involves any lewd act  
          between persons for money or other consideration.  (Pen. Code §  
          647, subd. (b); CALCRIM 1154)

          Existing decisional law defines a lewd act as "touching the  
          genitals, buttocks, or female breast of either the prostitute or  
          customer with some part of the other person's body for the  
          purpose of sexual arousal or gratification." (CALCRIM 1154,  
          citing Pryor v. Municipal Court (1979) 25 Cal.3d 238, 256; See,  
          Wooten v. Superior Court (2001) 93 Cal.App.4th 422, pp.  
          431-433.)  
           
           Existing law provides that any person who solicits, agrees to  
          engage in, or engages in an act of prostitution is guilty of a  
          misdemeanor.  The crime includes an element that the defendant  









          SB 420  (Huff )                                           PageC  
          of?
          
          specifically intended to engage in an act of prostitution and  
          some act was done in furtherance of the agreed upon act.  (Pen.  
          Code § 647, subd. (b).)

          Existing law provides that where any person is convicted for a  
          second prostitution offense, the person shall serve a sentence  
          of at least 45 days, no part of which can be suspended or  
          reduced by the court regardless of whether or not the court  
          grants probation. (Pen. Code § 647, subd. (k).)

          Existing law provides that where any person is convicted for a  
          third prostitution offense, the person shall serve a sentence of  
          at least 90 days, no part of which can be suspended or reduced  
          by the court regardless of whether or not the court grants  
          probation. (Pen. Code § 647, subd. (k).)

          Existing law provides that where a defendant is convicted of a  
          prostitution offense in which the defendant sought to procure or  
          procured the "sexual services of a prostitute who was a minor,  
          the following shall apply:

                 The defendant shall, in addition to any other fine or  
               penalty, be ordered to pay up    to$25,000; and
             
                 Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the proceeds of  
               the fine shall "be available to fund programs and services  
               for commercially sexually exploited minors in the counties"  
               of conviction.  (Pen. Code §§ 261.9 and 647, subd. (b).
           
           This bill divides prostitution into three separate crimes.  Each  
          crime includes an element that the defendant takes some act  
          beyond manifestation of an agreement to engage in an act of  
          prostitution.


                 One crime is committed by the person who agreed to pay  
               another person to engage in a lewd act.





                 A separate crime is committed by the person who agreed  
               to receive compensation for a lewd act.









          SB 420  (Huff )                                           PageD  
          of?
          


                


                 A third crime is committed by a person who solicits a  
               minor for a lewd act in exchange for compensation, or who  
               accepts an offer by a minor to engage in a lewd act in  
               exchange for compensation paid to the minor.




                    RECEIVERSHIP/OVERCROWDING CRISIS AGGRAVATION

          For the past eight years, this Committee has scrutinized  
          legislation referred to its jurisdiction for any potential  
          impact on prison overcrowding.  Mindful of the United States  
          Supreme Court ruling and federal court orders relating to the  
          state's ability to provide a constitutional level of health care  
          to its inmate population and the related issue of prison  
          overcrowding, this Committee has applied its "ROCA" policy as a  
          content-neutral, provisional measure necessary to ensure that  
          the Legislature does not erode progress in reducing prison  
          overcrowding.   

          On February 10, 2014, the federal court ordered California to  
          reduce its in-state adult institution population to 137.5% of  
          design capacity by February 28, 2016, as follows:   

                 143% of design bed capacity by June 30, 2014;
                 141.5% of design bed capacity by February 28, 2015; and,
                 137.5% of design bed capacity by February 28, 2016. 

          In February of this year the administration reported that as "of  
          February 11, 2015, 112,993 inmates were housed in the State's 34  
          adult institutions, which amounts to 136.6% of design bed  
          capacity, and 8,828 inmates were housed in out-of-state  
          facilities.  This current population is now below the  
          court-ordered reduction to 137.5% of design bed capacity."(  
          Defendants' February 2015 Status Report In Response To February  
          10, 2014 Order, 2:90-cv-00520 KJM DAD PC, 3-Judge Court, Coleman  
          v. Brown, Plata v. Brown (fn. omitted).










          SB 420  (Huff )                                           PageE  
          of?
          
          While significant gains have been made in reducing the prison  
          population, the state now must stabilize these advances and  
          demonstrate to the federal court that California has in place  
          the "durable solution" to prison overcrowding "consistently  
          demanded" by the court.  (Opinion Re: Order Granting in Part and  
          Denying in Part Defendants' Request For Extension of December  
          31, 2013 Deadline, NO. 2:90-cv-0520 LKK DAD (PC), 3-Judge Court,  
          Coleman v. Brown, Plata v. Brown (2-10-14).  The Committee's  
          consideration of bills that may impact the prison population  
          therefore will be informed by the following questions:

              Whether a proposal erodes a measure which has contributed  
               to reducing the prison population;
              Whether a proposal addresses a major area of public safety  
               or criminal activity for which there is no other  
               reasonable, appropriate remedy;
              Whether a proposal addresses a crime which is directly  
               dangerous to the physical safety of others for which there  
               is no other reasonably appropriate sanction; 
              Whether a proposal corrects a constitutional problem or  
               legislative drafting error; and
              Whether a proposal proposes penalties which are  
               proportionate, and cannot be achieved through any other  
               reasonably appropriate remedy.




          











          COMMENTS

          1.Need for this Bill










          SB 420  (Huff )                                           PageF  
          of?
          
          According to the author:

               Research proves that demand for sex acts drives the  
               market for exploitation, especially among children.   
               Under current law, any person who offers to engage in  
               or engages in any act of prostitution is guilty of  
               disorderly conduct.  It's time we call purchasing of  
               sex acts what it is and separate out the buyers from  
               the sellers, who more often than not - are victims of  
               sex trafficking.

               Currently there is no distinction in law between an  
               adult who is selling sexual acts, from the adult who  
               is purchasing sexual acts, or from an adult who is  
               purchasing sex from a minor.  SB 420 focuses on the  
               demand side of human trafficking, by amending Penal  
               Code Section 647, to separate the buyers and sellers  
               of human trafficking and prostitution. 

               SB 420 is a necessary first step in addressing the  
               demand side of human trafficking.  By making a  
               distinct separation in the Penal Code, between the  
               individuals involved in prostitution, we can see real  
               numbers that will tell us how many children and adults  
               are being purchased for sex.  By US Department of  
               State estimates, sex trafficking is a $32 billion  
               industry in this country and 50 percent of trafficking  
               victims are minors. 

               Easy access to the Internet enables human beings to  
               become ensnared and sold across state lines.  The FBI  
               has determined that three of the nations' thirteen  
               High Intensity Child Prostitution areas are located  
               here in California.  Data generated by SB 420 is  
               essential for crafting solutions to a disturbing  
               public safety enemy in our communities, especially  
               among at-risk youth. 

          2.Sponsor and Author Seek to Focus Prosecution Efforts on The  
            Demand Side of Prostitution 


          The background provided by the author and sponsor notes that the  
          narrow or current purpose of 









          SB 420  (Huff )                                           PageG  
          of?
          
          this bill is to collect data on the comparative numbers of  
          arrests in prostitution cases for 1) buyers of sex acts from  
          adults, 2) buyers of sex acts from minors, and 3) sellers of sex  
          acts.  The author's background states that the broader goal in  
          this bill is to "focus on the demand side of human  
          trafficking?."   These efforts are premised on the understanding  
          that prostitution is integral to and inextricably tied to human  
          trafficking.   
          It thus appears that the data from this bill will be used to  
          eventually support higher penalties for prostitution purchasers.  
           As the bill separates prostitution into separately defined and  
          charged offenses, different procedures, penalties and other  
          outcomes and goals can easily be amended into the law.  It  
          remains to be seen whether treating purchasers and buyers of  
          sexual acts differently can reduce human trafficking and provide  
          needed services to sellers.

           

           3.Sexual Acts with Minors - Regardless of the Payment of  
            Compensation - Constitutes a Sex Crime

          This bill would separately define prostitution in which the  
          person who provides, agreed to provide, sexual services is a  
          minor.  Sexual conduct with a minor constitutes a felony in most  
          instances, regardless of whether anything of value was offered  
          or exchanged for the sexual acts.  If the minor involved in  
          commercial sex of was under the age of 14, the defendant has  
          committed the felony of lewd conduct, with a prison term of  
          three, six or eight years, or five, eight or 10 years if  
          coercion is involved (Pen. Code § 288, subds. (a)-(b).)   
          Soliciting an act of prostitution from a minor under the age of  
          14 could likely be prosecuted as attempted lewd conduct.  The  
          prison or jail term for an attempt is generally one-half the  
          punishment for the completed crime.  Where the defendant  
          solicited or employed a minor who was14 or 15 years old, and the  
          defendant was at least 10 years older than the minor, the  
          defendant has committed an alternate felony-misdemeanor.

          Any defined sex act - sodomy, sexual penetration, oral  
          copulation or sexual intercourse - with a minor is a crime.  The  
          penalties depend on the relative ages of the defendant and the  
          minor and whether the crime involved some form of force,  
          coercion or improper advantage.  A defendant charged with a  









          SB 420  (Huff )                                           PageH  
          of?
          
          prostitution-related offense involving a minor could also be  
          charged and convicted of a sex crime in the same case.   
          Generally, because the defined sex crime and the sexual commerce  
          offense would involve a single transaction or act, the defendant  
          could only be punished for one offense - the offense carrying  
          the greatest penalty.  (Pen. Code § 654.)  

          DO MOST PROSTITUTION INCIDENTS IN WHICH AN ADULT SOUGHT TO  
          PURCHASE SEX FROM A MINOR CONSTITUTE ATTEMPTED OR COMPLETED SEX  
          CRIMES?

          4.Accurate and Full Data Collection on Individually Defined  
            Forms of Prosecution

          The narrow or initial purpose of this bill is to collect data to  
          determine how many adults are arrested for and convicted of  
          paying for sexual acts, how many adults are arrested for and  
          convicted of selling sexual acts and how many adults are  
          arrested for and convicted of paying for sexual services from  
          minors.  The bill divides the prosecution statute - Penal Code  
          Section 647, subdivision (b) - into three paragraphs reflecting  
          each form of the crime.  In order for the data to be valuable  
          and accurate, reporting agencies will need to specifically note  
          the paragraph under which a defendant was arrested and  
          convicted.  Representatives from DOJ explained: "The way [crime  
          reports] appears in the system is entirely dependent on the law  
          enforcement agency or court that enters the offense into the  
          system.  One agency may enter PC 647(b)(2) while another may  
          only enter PC 647(b)."

           Prosecutors will likely record the specific paragraph under  
          which the defendant is convicted - PC 647 (b)(2) for example.   
          However, police officers and sheriff's deputies might not  
          specifically record the paragraph of arrest unless instructed to  
          do so.  Further, it may not be apparent to officers and deputies  
          what specific form of prostitution would be charged by the  
          prosecutor in any particular case.  That could cause some  
          confusion and inaccuracy in the data.

          Another impediment to full and accurate data collection is the  
          fact, as discussed in Comment #3, that sex with a minor is a  
          crime.  If a minor and an adult are involved in a prostitution  
          incident, numerous outcomes involving sex crimes and  
          prostitution could occur.  For example, the police could arrest  









          SB 420  (Huff )                                           PageI  
          of?
          
          both parties for prostitution, but the prosecutor could charge  
          the adult with a sex crime, or prostitution, or both.  The  
          prosecutor could charge the minor with no crime, or file a  
          prostitution charge.  The adult could be initially charged with  
          a sex crime but plead guilty to a prostitution offense, perhaps  
          if the minor appeared to be an adult.  In sum, it may be  
          difficult to determine the extent of prostitution involving  
          minors from arrest and conviction data.  

          If committee members approve the bill, they may wish to inquire  
          as to whether DOJ should be directed to instruct agencies on the  
          reporting of prostitution offenses.  Committee members may also  
          wish to inquire whether it could be assured that prostitution  
          involving minors could be accurately reported and tracked.  

           5.Seattle Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion Program for  
            Prostitution and Drug Offenders

          The Seattle Police Department and other agencies and entities  
          have implemented a program of Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion  
          (LEAD).  LEAD officers take drug offenders and sellers of  
          prostitution services - categories of offenders that may often  
          overlap - directly to services and treatment.  The process  
          bypasses the court system, saving court resources and time.  

          The second evaluation of the program was recently released by  
          the University of Washington.  Short and long term recidivism is  
          significantly lower for LEAD participants than for offenders in  
          the court system<1>, with better results over the long term.   
          LEAD programs could be one of the programs or efforts in helping  
          street-level sex workers transition out of their plight.   
          Without services to assist sex workers with underlying problems  
          of drug abuse, lack of housing and exploitation, focusing  
          prosecution efforts on sex purchasers will not likely produce  
          optimum results. 

           6.Recidivism Studies on Persons Convicted of Purchasing Sex -  
            Effects of Special Programs  
           
          A study<2> in 2002 in the Western Criminology Review of a now  
          defunct first-offender program in Portland (SEEP) found very low  

          ---------------------------
          <1> http://leadkingcounty.org/lead-evaluation/

          <2> http://wcr.sonoma.edu/v3n2/monto.html.








          SB 420  (Huff )                                           PageJ  
          of?
          
          recidivism rates for all prostitution arrestees regardless of  
          whether they were referred to SEEP and participated, were  
          referred to SEEP but did not attend, or were not referred to the  
          program.  The study considered only a two-year period and a  
          relatively small number of offenders.  The researchers inferred  
          that an arrest, per se, could have deterred offenders, as the  
          crime involves significant shame.  The authors also questioned  
          if the offenders continued to solicit prostitutes but simply  
          learned how to avoid arrest.  They could not say whether the  
          education from the SEEP program would have led the participants  
          to a avoid prostitution for a substantial time in the future.

          A number of cities around the country have adopted special  
          first-offender prostitution diversion programs that educate men  
          arrested for soliciting an act of prostitution about the harms  
          caused by or attendant to the commercial sex trade.  Initial  
          reports of the effectiveness of the programs have been sharply  
          criticized in peer-reviewed studies.<3>  The study from the  
          Western Criminology Review (noted above) found that recidivism  
          rates attributable to FOPP programs are difficult to measure, as  
          johns arrested for prostitution offenses can easily learn how to  
          avoid arrest.  Further, the increasing shift of prostitution to  
          the Internet makes it difficult to measure recidivism.

          DOES RESEARCH INDICATE THAT AN ARREST, PER SE, MAY BE A  
          SUBSTANTIAL DETERRENT FOR MEN WHO SOLICIT PROSTITUTES?

           7.  Limited Studies of the Demographics of Prostitution  
            Customers  

           According to a John Jay College study of commercially, sexually  
          exploited homeless youth in New York often sought out customers,  
          rather than being solicited by adults.   Particularly in  
          Manhattan, or through the Internet, CSEC (commercially sexually  
          exploited children) sought older white customers who were  
          perceived to have more money.  (See Comment # 8)  However, the  
          range of customers was relatively wide.  

          A draft University of Chicago study by Steven Levitt and Sudhir  
          Alladi Venkatesh (Freakonomics) considered of street-level  
          prostitution in certain Chicago neighborhoods known for  

          ---------------------------
          <3>  
          http://rightswork.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/John-Schools.Lov 
          ell.Jordan.7.12.pdf.








          SB 420  (Huff )                                           PageK  
          of?
          
          prostitution, including a neighborhood where prostitution was  
          controlled by pimps and a neighborhood where prostitutes were  
          independent.<4>  Levitt estimated that there were 1,200 acts of  
          prostitution per arrest, indicating that even street-level  
          prostitution customers generally need not fear arrest.  The  
          Chicago study noted that more upscale prostitution occurred over  
          the Internet and through escort services, where the likelihood  
          of arrest was low.  

          Levitt found "many men making a few visits and a small number of  
          men making very frequent visits."  He found 25 johns arrested  
          twice and 2,969 johns who were arrested once.  As in the Western  
          Criminology Review study, Leavitt speculated that some men may  
          have learned from one arrest how to avoid another.  However,  
          some johns may have been arrested multiple times because they  
          were not good at distinguishing between an actual prostitute and  
          a police decoy.
          A 2008 review in the Electronic Journal of Human Sexuality<5> of  
          studies from cities across the country found wide variance in  
          education, income and ethnicity among prostitution customers.  

          8.  Sex Trafficking of Minors - Estimated Prevalence and  
          Available Data
          
          General Trafficking Prevalence Estimates and Data; 2007  
          California Data

          There appears to be general agreement that sex trafficking of  
          children is increasing and profitable.  However, the 2007 Final  
          Report of the California Alliance to Combat Trafficking and  
          Slavery Task Force<6> noted that California lacked comprehensive  
          statistics on human trafficking.  Thus, many statistics on human  
          trafficking in general, and sex trafficking of children in  
          particular, are estimates.  The 2007 report did cite statistics  
          from various sources, including a study finding that 80% of  
                                                         documented cases in California occurred in urban areas and the  
          ---------------------------
          <4>  
          http://economics.uchicago.edu/pdf/Prostitution%205.pdf?q=venkates 
          h.  Levitt noted that the data was preliminary and cautioned  
          those who would cite the report, the study has been widely read  
          and cited.
          <5> http://www.ejhs.org/volume11/brewer.htm.
          <6> The task force was administered by the California Attorney  
          General's Office.








          SB 420  (Huff )                                           PageL  
          of?
          
          majority of victims were non-citizens.  A U.S. State Department  
          report of global trafficking estimated that minors constituted  
          50% of trafficking victims.  (2007 Alliance to Combat  
          Trafficking.  Final Report, pp. 33-39.<7>)  The State Department  
          also noted that 14,500 to 17,500 persons are trafficked into the  
          United States from other countries.<8>
          The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducts 24 Innocence  
          Lost child sexual exploitation task forces and working groups  
          across the country.  Through 2007, 365 cases were opened and 281  
          child victims were located.  The Shared Hope International  
          non-profit organization has reported that approximately 100,000  
          domestic minors are sexually trafficked each year.<9>  Numerous  
          examples of trafficking cases were summarized in the California  
          Alliance Report.  In 2001, a Berkeley man was prosecuted for  
          smuggling 15 girls from India for labor and sexual exploitation.  
           In 2000, a man was prosecuted for bringing women and girls from  
          Mexico and forcing them to work as prostitutes in Long Beach.   
          (2007 Alliance to Combat Trafficking, Final Report, p. 18.)

          2012 Report of the California Attorney General on Human  
          Trafficking

          The California Attorney General's Human Trafficking in  
          California 2012<10> report stated that human trafficking  
          investigations and prosecutions have become more comprehensive  
          and organized.  There are nine human trafficking task forces in  
          California, composed of local, state and federal law enforcement  
          and prosecutors.

          Data on human trafficking has improved, although the data still  
          does not reflect the actual extent and range of human  
          trafficking.  <11>Data from 2010 through 2012 collected by the  
          California task forces are set out in the following chart:

          ---------------------------
          <7>  
          http://ag.ca.gov/publications/Human_Trafficking_Final_Report.pdf. 
            The report includes citations to the each of the studies  
          quoted in the report.
          <8> http://oag.ca.gov/human-trafficking/2012, Ch. 3 p. 48.
          <9>   
          http://www.sharedhope.org/Portals/0/Documents/SHI_National_Report 
          _on_DMST_2009.pdf.
          <10> http://oag.ca.gov/human-trafficking/2012.
          <11> http://oag.ca.gov/human-trafficking/2012, Ch. 3, pp. 47-53.








          SB 420  (Huff )                                           PageM  
          of?
          
          California Human Trafficking Task Forces Data 2010-2012

           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |Investigations                  |2,552                           |
          |--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
          |Victims Identified              |1,277                           |
          |--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
          |Arrests Made                    |1,798                           |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 

          Trafficking by Category

           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |Sex Trafficking                 |56%                             |
          |--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
          |Labor Trafficking               |23%                             |
          |--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
          |Unclassified or Insufficient    |21%                             |
          |Information                     |                                |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 

           9.John Jay College of Criminal Justice Study on Commercially  
            Exploited Children (CSEC) found that most CSEC were introduced  
            to Commercial Sex by Peers

          Recent years have seen a great increase in awareness of and  
          concerns about minors - most often girls - engaged in commercial  
          sex activities.  Organized, coerced trafficking has received the  
          most attention.  Sex trafficking of has been described as sexual  
          slavery.  Trafficked minors are isolated, controlled by and made  
          dependent on their exploiters, and can even be perversely loyal  
          because of the manufactured dependency.<12>

          However, a detailed 2008 study by the Center for Court  
          Innovation and John Jay College of Criminal Justice found that  
          most of the minors engaging in commercial sex in New York City  
          are homeless or runaway minors who engage in "survival sex" to  
          obtain small amounts of money for food and other necessities.  A  
          significant number of these CSEC - commercially sexually  
          exploited children - are gay, lesbian and transgender youth who  
          left unsupportive families and communities.  The study authors  
          were surprised to find that most CSEC were recruited or  


          ---------------------------
          <12> Rachel Lloyd, Girls Like Us, pp.153-159  Harper Collins,  
          2011.








          SB 420  (Huff )                                           PageN  
          of?
          
          initiated into survival sex by their peers, with no involvement  
          by adult pimps.  The John Jay study also reported that many CSEC  
          were simply approached on the street by would-be customers,  
          without any solicitation by the CSEC. <13> Also surprising,  
          there were as many male CSEC as female in New York City. 

          Rachel Aviv's December 2012<14> profile of homeless young people  
          in the New Yorker magazine noted the results of the John Jay  
          study and then carefully documented the daily lives of a number  
          of homeless young people on the New York City streets.  They  
          often formed informal communities or families for support.  They  
          sometimes shared repeat customers and money earned from  
          commercial sex, technically acting as pimps for each other.   
          Adults who purchase sex from CSEC are certainly aware that they  
          are taking advantage of these children.  Some men use violence  
          against the homeless young people. 

          Aviv's profile documented that living on the streets and  
          engaging in survival sex is perilous.  The rate of HIV among  
          homeless youth is triple that of the general population.   
          Hunger, physical illness and psychiatric disorders are common. 

          10.  Girls Collaborative Court Programs for Minors Engaged in  
            Prostitution
          
          Special Court Process

          The New Yorker profile described a patchwork of services that  
          are not coordinated or comprehensive.  As the CSEC understood,  
          they are constantly in danger of becoming lifers on the street,  
          with the attendant harms of that life.  The John Jay study may  
          not reflect the populations of CSEC in cities and areas other  
          than New York.  However, the study does indicate that approaches  
          that rely mostly on enforcement of criminal laws against human  
          trafficking and pimping will not likely solve many of the  
          problems of young people who are exploited for commercial sex.  

          There has been a growing awareness of the value of special  
          juvenile courts for the girls found to be involved in commercial  
          ---------------------------
          <13> https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/225083.pdf,  pp  
          48-49,. 32-102.
          <14>  
          http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/12/10/121210fa_fact_aviv? 
          currentPage=all&pink=HhM7xT.








          SB 420  (Huff )                                           PageO  
          of?
          
          sex.  It has been argued that treating juvenile prostitution as  
          a crime problem does little or nothing to address the underlying  
          circumstances that bring minors to engage in commercial sex.   
          Special collaborative courts can organize and monitor  
          supervision and treatment of CSEC girls.  Special STAR  
          (Succeeding through Achievement and Resilience) courts have been  
          implemented in Los Angeles as a pilot project that is reportedly  
          being expanded.<15>  Alameda County has an established an  
          extensive Girls Court, with the participation of the sponsor of  
          this bill.  New York has created a network of 11 Human  
          Trafficking Intervention Courts for juveniles who are at least  
          16 years old.<16>  

          It appears that collaborative courts for minors caught up in  
          sexual commerce have focused almost exclusively on girls.   
          However, the John Jay study and the New Yorker investigative  
          article indicate that there are a substantial number of boys and  
          transgender youth who are CSEC.  In New York, the John Jay study  
          found that as many boys as girls were involved in sexual  
          commerce.  Arguably, collaborative courts should be organized or  
          designed to handle whatever populations of CSEC are present in  
          the community of the court or courts. Collaborative girls courts  
          have only been implemented on a limited basis, likely because  
          the court system and probation departments have limited funds.  

          11.  Amendment to Correctly Define the Elements of Prostitution

          As currently drafted on April 6, 2015, the bill can be  
          interpreted as defining prostitution solely in terms of a  
          solicitation of another to engage in an exchange of compensation  
          for a lewd act. However traditionally and under existing law,  
          prostitution can also be committed by agreeing to engage in an  
          exchanging compensation for a lewd act, or by engaging in an  
          exchange of compensation for a lewd act.  

          The author, sponsor and the Los Angeles County District Attorney  
          have agreed that the bill should be amended to include all the  
          ways in which prostitution can be committed.

          SHOULD THE BILL BE AMENDED TO CORRECTLY DESCRIBE PROSTITUTION AS  
          ---------------------------

          <15> http://file.lacounty.gov/bos/supdocs/70403.pdf.
          <16>  
          http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/29/us/a-courts-all-hands-approach- 
          aids-girls-most-at-risk.html?_r=0.







          SB 420  (Huff )                                           PageP  
          of?
          
          INCLUDING AGREEING TO ENGAGING IN AN ACT OF PROSTITUTION OR  
          ENGAGING IN AN ACT OF PROSTITUTION, NOT SOLELY SOLICITING AN ACT  
          OF PROSTITUTION?



                                      -- END -