State Rejects Bill To Make Purchasing Kids For Sex A Felony Unless Liberal Modifications Are Made

As a parent, hell as a human being, most people would agree that sex trafficking of anyone, no matter what their age, should be a felony. However, one state can’t stand the idea of punishing those involved to the fullest extent of the law. In my opinion, the law as presented wasn’t strong enough, but to the liberals Democrats in this state, it needed to be weakened even further.

Let’s first focus on the bill itself before discussing the parties involved or the state. At present, in this state, buying or soliciting a child for sex is considered a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum of one year in jail or a minimum of two days in jail, as well as a fine of up to $10,000. The punishment for an unimaginable crime cannot be this ridiculous.

A new bill, SB 1414, proposed classifying this specific crime as a felony. This crime would carry a maximum penalty of up to four years in prison and a $25,000 fine. The bill would apply to children who are 17 years old and younger, but this is an apparent point of contention for liberal Democrats.

I believe that this bill, without any modifications, is not sufficient. If someone is attempting to buy or sell another person for the purpose of sexual exploitation, a sentence of four years in prison and a fine of $25,000 is not enough of a punishment. This is particularly true if the victim is a child who is 17 years old or younger.

Now let’s talk about the state and the players involved. It should come as no surprise that the state seeking to legitimize sex trafficking is California. It also isn’t surprising that the politician attempting to strengthen this law is a Republican, in this case, Sen. Shannon Grove.

It is also not surprising that those who refuse to protect the innocent while shielding the guilty are all Democrats. Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, Sen. Scott Wiener, and committee chairwoman Aisha Wahab voted to move forward with amendments specifically designed to malign the bill, as Grove watched in disbelief.

The Democrats in the group have proposed a rather unbelievable change to the bill, which would limit the felony classification for the purchase of minors to only those under the age of 16. The Senate Public Safety Committee has passed the bill 4-0, subject to these changes.

Grove surrounded by a group of survivors, was obviously shaken by the callousness of the Democrats. Her voice faltered when she said:

“To force these amendments on me in front of survivors, to water this down to avoid 16 and 17-year-olds.”

Liberal opponents such as Natasha Minsker with Smart Justice California said the group opposed the bill, arguing the bill doesn’t stop at the issue of older adults soliciting children. Minsker said the offense is “committed through words alone” and could lead to an 18-year-old going to state prison for four years.

I don’t see the relevance of that argument. If an 18-year-old is attempting to sell or buy someone into the despicable act of human trafficking, they should be punished with imprisonment.

Smart Justice California, which is a group that advocates for criminal justice reform policies, has expressed concern that the bill could be unfairly used against the LGBTQ community. Leslie Houston from the California Public Defender’s Association has also shared the same view, stating that it would be unjust and unacceptable to compel young people to serve time both in prison and on the sex offenders registry.

How is it unfair for someone to be imprisoned and put on a sex offender registry when they attempt to harm another human being? This is blatant liberal bias geared to protect the guilty and to disregard abuse of the victim. This type of liberal justice disintegrates societal morals and endangers all of us.

The bill would remove the requirement that those convicted of soliciting a minor knew or should have known that person was a minor. Similar proposals have failed since 2014.

This represents the sad state of politics in blue states like California. Republicans are so brow-beaten that they are hesitant to submit bills that have real teeth in them because they know they have no chance of getting them passed. Democrats, on the other hand, know that they are in total control and never miss a chance to force their woke agenda through, even when they are aware that it is detrimental to the populous of the state.

There isn’t a single person in our country who believes that stronger legislation isn’t needed to eliminate sex trafficking. It’s truly disgraceful that one political party is so far left on the political spectrum that it would deliberately undermine any attempt to achieve that. It would have been truly refreshing if someone had spoken up and suggested that the proposed changes weren’t strong enough and needed a more effective deterrent.