New York sets up special courts to handle prostitution and trafficking cases

[jimmy olsen]

If only this was being done in Maryland, CdM's reign of terror could finally end!

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/09/25/20692668-new-york-sets-up-special-courts-to-handle-prostitution-and-trafficking-cases?lite

New York sets up special courts to handle prostitution and trafficking cases
By Erin McClam, Staff Writer, NBC News

The state of New York will begin treating most alleged prostitutes as victims rather than criminals, and seek to steer them toward medical treatment, job training and other social services to break the cycle of sex trafficking.

The highest-ranking judge in the state, Jonathan Lippman, announced the initiative Wednesday and said that it was the first of its kind in the United States.

The state is establishing special courts to handle the cases and expects most of them to be set up by the end of next month. Lippman said that the program could help thousands of people entangled in sex trafficking.

"It is in every sense a form of modern-day slavery," he said.

Under the new system, all prostitution cases that go beyond arraignment will be referred to the special trafficking court, where a judge, prosecutor and defense attorney will confer.

If they determine that the defendant is a victim in need of help, they will refer the victim to tailored services — drug treatment, education, job training, health care or immigration help, for example.

Defendants who comply with the recommended services can have their charges dropped. In that way, the sex-trafficking initiative is similar to drug diversion programs in courts across the country.

"While these prostitution cases are criminal in every sense," Lippman said, the special courts will make sure that "there will be no further victimization of these defendants by a society that can be divorced from the realities of this modern-day form of servitude."

David Bookstaver, a spokesman for the state courts, said that there was no cost to the taxpayer — the cost is absorbed by the service organizations, who are thrilled to help, he said.

Because fewer sex-trafficking cases will tie up the courts, "We have money in the long run," he said. "But you're saving people's lives."

Lippman said that the vast majority of people charged with prostitution crimes are commercially exploited or at risk of exploitation. In sex trafficking, someone profits by forcing another into prostitution, sometimes through debt or force.

Kathleen Rice, the president of the association of New York state prosecutors, said that she hoped the program would serve as a model for the rest of the country. Pilot courts have been established in Manhattan and Queens and on Long Island.

"I think it would be fantastic to see this happening in other states," said Kate Keisel, the director of Polaris Project New Jersey, part of a national organization that pushes for stronger laws against human trafficking.

She said that the New York initiative was notable in that it targets all forms of prostitution, not just minors. Twelve states have passed so-called safe harbor laws, which aim to treat minors as survivors, not criminals, when they are caught in the sex-trafficking system, according to a Polaris Project report issued this summer.

Keisel said that some advocates would like to see the criminal justice system focus on other parts of the sex-trafficking system — the johns and the traffickers themselves.

"If we're not coming down harder on the demand and the individuals profiting, we're focusing our efforts in the wrong direction," she said.

Criminal justice experts are increasingly focused on the exploitation of girls. The judge, in remarks to the nonprofit group Citizens Crime Commission, made note that the typical age of entry into prostitution in the United States is 12 to 14.

Moreover, he said, few of their clients, and even fewer of the people who exploit them, are ever hauled into court, and victims of exploitation can pass unnoticed through the standard courts because they are afraid to reveal their circumstances.

"They were thought of not as victims, but as criminals, addicts, delinquents, incorrigible and profit-driven," Lippman said. "Many still feel that way, but we have come a long way in our understanding of this complex problem."

[dps]

The highest-ranking judge in the state, Jonathan Lippman, announced the initiative Wednesday and said that it was the first of its kind in the United States.

This part of the story confuses me a bit.  Surely in New York, the courts don't have the authority to do this on their own?  Wouldn't it have to be enacted by the legislature?

[Berkut]

What does the court do when they get a "victim" who says "No, I am not on drugs, I am not being held against my will, I don't want job training because I already have a job that I like just fine, thanks"?

Throw them in jail since they don't have an excuse for being a prostitute?

[merithyn]

What does the court do when they get a "victim" who says "No, I am not on drugs, I am not being held against my will, I don't want job training because I already have a job that I like just fine, thanks"?

Throw them in jail since they don't have an excuse for being a prostitute?

Clearly, they will have to go for counseling to find out why they find having sex for money a viable option. They may end up on involuntary admission in a psych ward until they can be "de-programmed".

No, I'm not serious. I'm annoyed with the idea that one can't make that choice for themselves.

[Barrister]

What does the court do when they get a "victim" who says "No, I am not on drugs, I am not being held against my will, I don't want job training because I already have a job that I like just fine, thanks"?

Throw them in jail since they don't have an excuse for being a prostitute?

Clearly, they will have to go for counseling to find out why they find having sex for money a viable option. They may end up on involuntary admission in a psych ward until they can be "de-programmed".

No, I'm not serious. I'm annoyed with the idea that one can't make that choice for themselves.

I'll let you know when I find one.

The thing to remember is that the ladies busted for prostitution aren't the ones who are out escorting Elliot Spitzer around town - they're the ones who are out walking the street.  And those are pretty much always the kinds described in this article.

[Eddie Teach]

The thing to remember is that the ladies busted for prostitution aren't the ones who are out escorting Elliot Spitzer around town - they're the ones who are out walking the street.

Heidi Fleiss?

[Barrister]

The thing to remember is that the ladies busted for prostitution aren't the ones who are out escorting Elliot Spitzer around town - they're the ones who are out walking the street.

Heidi Fleiss?

Pimps/madams aren't typically the ones going before these kinds of specialized courts.  They're the ones doing the exploiting.

[DGuller]

The thing to remember is that the ladies busted for prostitution aren't the ones who are out escorting Elliot Spitzer around town - they're the ones who are out walking the street.  And those are pretty much always the kinds described in this article.

Are the johns using escort services equally safe from prosecution?

[Berkut]

What does the court do when they get a "victim" who says "No, I am not on drugs, I am not being held against my will, I don't want job training because I already have a job that I like just fine, thanks"?

Throw them in jail since they don't have an excuse for being a prostitute?

Clearly, they will have to go for counseling to find out why they find having sex for money a viable option. They may end up on involuntary admission in a psych ward until they can be "de-programmed".

No, I'm not serious. I'm annoyed with the idea that one can't make that choice for themselves.

I'll let you know when I find one.

The thing to remember is that the ladies busted for prostitution aren't the ones who are out escorting Elliot Spitzer around town - they're the ones who are out walking the street.  And those are pretty much always the kinds described in this article.

I understand that.

That is why I am asking what they will do when someone who is NOT the typical customer for one of these courts gets arrested for prostitution.

[Barrister]

What does the court do when they get a "victim" who says "No, I am not on drugs, I am not being held against my will, I don't want job training because I already have a job that I like just fine, thanks"?

Throw them in jail since they don't have an excuse for being a prostitute?

Clearly, they will have to go for counseling to find out why they find having sex for money a viable option. They may end up on involuntary admission in a psych ward until they can be "de-programmed".

No, I'm not serious. I'm annoyed with the idea that one can't make that choice for themselves.

I'll let you know when I find one.

The thing to remember is that the ladies busted for prostitution aren't the ones who are out escorting Elliot Spitzer around town - they're the ones who are out walking the street.  And those are pretty much always the kinds described in this article.

I understand that.

That is why I am asking what they will do when someone who is NOT the typical customer for one of these courts gets arrested for prostitution.

Most jurisdictions have some kind of alternate means for dealing with street-level prostitution, so it varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.  Here we have a diversion program, but the Crown has the right to say "no" to entering, plus the person has to want to enter it.

[The Brain]

I just fired up a random porno and it has a prostitute being busted by cops and she agrees to have sex with them to avoid legal problems. Coincidence?

[crazy canuck]

That is why I am asking what they will do when someone who is NOT the typical customer for one of these courts gets arrested for prostitution.

Here the police would never bother with them unless they were doing something else which was obviously illegal - like operating out of a common bawdy house or something like that.

[Barrister]

That is why I am asking what they will do when someone who is NOT the typical customer for one of these courts gets arrested for prostitution.

Here the police would never bother with them unless they were doing something else which was obviously illegal - like operating out of a common bawdy house or something like that.

Really?  The police here definitely try and get them off the street.  I think they'd prefer them to be in a bawdy house (and in fact there are several massage parlours that are exactly that).

[Admiral Yi]

What exactly are the current Canadian laws on selling and buying sex?

My motivation is purely academic.

[crazy canuck]

That is why I am asking what they will do when someone who is NOT the typical customer for one of these courts gets arrested for prostitution.

Here the police would never bother with them unless they were doing something else which was obviously illegal - like operating out of a common bawdy house or something like that.

Really?  The police here definitely try and get them off the street.  I think they'd prefer them to be in a bawdy house (and in fact there are several massage parlours that are exactly that).

We are talking about Berkut's query of a prostitute that is not typical ie is perfectly rational, not drug addicted and not coerced in any manner.  I think you have in mind the typical street walker.

Most of the prostitutes Berkut is talking about work out of their own apartments or rent apartments for that purpose.  They are not common bawdy houses used by a number of prostitutes.  Common bawdy houses are typically run by pimps who are exploiting the women because the legal risk is too great atm for prostutes to organized themselves in a coop type manner.

I agree that in the long run it would be much more preferable if prostitutes were given more freedom to safely practice their trade within a common bawdy house that was run by the prostitutes and not pimps.  But that is currently the law and there is no red light type district where they could do that atm.