A California bill to extend prison sentences for people convicted of child sex trafficking that sparked public outcry and divided Democrats this summer was amended in a critical vote Friday to address concerns about possible prosecution of victims.

An amended version of Senate Bill 14, which would add underage sex trafficking to the list of “serious” crimes under California’s criminal code and subject people to additional prison terms under the state’s “three strikes” law, the powerful Assembly Appropriations Committee passed, said Los Angeles Democrat Chris Holden, chairman of the panel.

The amendments, pushed by progressive Assembly Democrats, are a victory for criminal justice reform advocates who have argued for months that the bill would harm victims or provide them with necessary services. But the adjustments could

sparked new anger among Republicans and moderate Democrats, who saw the measure as a sensitive way to mitigate California’s growing crisis and protect exploited children.

California Democrats change course after killing bill to toughen penalties for child sex trafficking

Disagreement over the closely watched measure reached a boiling point this summer, when the Democratic majority on the high-profile and left-leaning Assembly Public Safety Committee blocked passage of the bill, despite passing it with bipartisan support in the first half of 2014. slipped through the Senate. the year

Democrats on the committee expressed concern that the bill could lead to victims being prosecuted who are forced into a cycle of trafficking and those who survived the abuse could be re-traumatized. They also cast doubt on the expansion of California’s “three strikes” law, a remnant of the state’s past crackdown on crime, which many advocates attribute to the spate of mass incarcerations filling prisons.

Proponents who work with sex trafficking victims are also divided on the bill, with some agreeing it could put the wrong people in jail, and others saying strict prison sentences are needed to discourage abuse.

Making child sex trafficking a criminal offense allows prosecutors to impose life sentences on convicted individuals who have been charged with other “serious” or “violent” crimes. Child sex trafficking already carries a substantial prison sentence, in some cases up to 12 years or up to 15 years to life if the crime also involves other factors, such as force, fear, coercion or violence.

“SB 14 doesn’t really meet the needs of the victims and doesn’t address the root causes of the problem,” said Natasha Minsker, policy adviser to the left-wing public safety organization Smart Justice California. “We are approaching the conversation from a completely wrong direction when we say that we are going to increase the sentences and that we are going to get out with prosecution.”

Senator Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) rejected that idea earlier this week, saying the bill’s goal was to protect children from repeat sex traffickers made possible by what she describes as a lenient justice system. are available to ensure victims do not get caught up in persecution.

“This bill doesn’t cut off victims at all,” Grove said at a news conference Wednesday. “This is a bill that focuses on the victims.”

The bill’s initial demise left Democrats with a public relations nightmare, and gave Republicans the rare opportunity for a legislative victory after portraying their counterparts as apologists for child sex trafficking.

Some Democrats who had not initially supported the bill apologized and changed course. The chaotic episode was for both Gov. Gavin Newsom and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) to consider the issue and encourage a resolution. More than half of the 120 members of parliament have since signed up as co-authors of the bill, demonstrating its strength ahead of Friday’s vote.

Facing intense pressure to reconsider the vote and after enduring death threats, Reggie Jones-Sawyer, a member of the House of Representatives, Los Angeles Democrat and chair of the Public Safety Committee, called for a new hearing on the measure and approved it. immediately good.

QUOTE FROM DEMS ON THE CHANGES

Debra Rush, a child sex trafficking survivor and founder of the Fresno-based organization Breaking the Chains, said lawmakers need to draw a “hard line in the sand,” saying SB 14 was a way to send a message to traffickers that they will face legal consequences.

“If we don’t protect our most valuable resource, and our most vulnerable, our children, we are failing across the board. These are children,” Rush said. “It is difficult to think of even a crime that comes close to the level of trauma and violence experienced by victims of trafficking.”