California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill Monday that will increase penalties for those convicted of child sex trafficking, a seemingly simple measure that instead divided Democrats over how to address crimes that disproportionately affect women and children.

Senate Bill 14 would reclassify sex trafficking of minors as a “serious” crime, potentially resulting in a life sentence under the state’s “three strikes” law, which also applies to crimes such as murder and rape . The measure received unanimous approval from the 80 members of the State Assembly and the 40-member Senate.

“Human trafficking is a sick crime. With this new law, California goes further to protect children,” Newsom said in a statement after signing the bill in Sacramento along with human trafficking survivors, first partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom and SB author 14, State Sen. .Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield).

By passing this bill, we are sending a clear message to child traffickers that we intend to put you out of business and behind bars where you belong,” said Grove, who has worked on the issue for years.

California lawmakers send governor . Newsom child sex trafficking bill that divided Democrats

Despite its eventual passage, Democratic concerns over whether victims would be vulnerable to prosecution and whether the three strikes should be expanded nearly killed SB 14, creating a public relations nightmare for the majority party and a rare Republican victory in the Capitol.

The controversy also exposed cracks in the criminal justice reform movement, not just over human trafficking but other crimes such as domestic violence and certain sexual assaults, politically difficult issues for Democrats who have touted policies supporting women but have turned away opposition to efforts to increase the prison population.

“I think the resistance is healthy. When we’re talking about adding prison sentences and adding crimes, we need to think long and hard about that,” said Maggy Krell, a prosecutor who specializes in human trafficking.

But, Krell added, “we were actually talking about gender-based violence here. We were talking about crimes that disproportionately impact women and children, and women and children of color.”

Lawmakers also disagreed this year over a bill to extend prison sentences for those convicted of domestic violence, and another bill that would have eliminated the requirement for health care providers to report assault and abuse to law enforcement. Both measures failed. The Legislature has also fought over additions in recent years

a fine for that

the removal of a condom without consent and the repeal of an anti-loitering law that particularly affected sex workers.

“California is leading the way in many things. But we are not leading the way in female leadership,” said Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil, a moderate Democrat from Amador County who introduced a bill this year to allow rape of an intoxicated person. a “violent crime” that carries a penalty increase of three strikes. Alvarado-Gil kept her hands on the bill over concerns it could face resistance similar to SB 14.

While

Although the debate is “uncomfortable,” Alvarado-Gil said, “we cannot shy away from what is the ugliest part of our human society.”

California is repealing the anti-loitering law that sparked debate over the decriminalization of sex work

The years-long tension reached a boiling point in July, when Democrats on the left-leaning Assembly Public Safety Committee rejected SB 14 amid criticism that it would lead to the prosecution of victims and the refilling of prisons.

The decision sparked public outrage against Democrats and interference from Newsom and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister), both of whom called for compromise and a quick resolution. Faced with political pressure and even

death threats, Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer, a Los Angeles Democrat and chairman of the Public Safety Committee, revived the bill with another hearing and quickly passed it.

Progressive Assembly Democrats ultimately won a number of amendments to the bill at another hearing earlier this month, exempting human trafficking victims from the serious crimes provision. These changes allayed concerns about possible prosecution of survivors and secured the unanimous passage of the bill, which goes into effect on January 1.

‘We fail [victims] “When we say to the world that we are going to be soft on people who prey on children,” said former Sacramento Dist. Atty. Anne Marie Schubert, who left the Republican Party and later ran for attorney general as an independent candidate in 2022. ‘I have read some arguments that there is no evidence that a longer prison sentence will reduce crime. Yes, that’s right, because they are in prison.”

Opponents of SB 14, including some of the leading advocates of criminal justice reform, said the measure was too simplistic and that sending people to prison longer was not the answer.

“Any bill that addresses sex crimes has always been a hot political item,” said Natasha Minsker, a policy adviser at the left-leaning public safety organization Smart Justice California. “We’re approaching the conversation from a completely wrong direction when we say we’re just going to increase the penalties and we’re going to get out of it with prosecution.”

What’s lost in the political chaos, some attorneys and legal experts said, is what’s best for the victims.

“Regardless of how much time we will have for suspects, we have to look at No. 1:

number one,

What are we even doing to prevent this crime?” said Krell, who supported SB 14. “And no. 2,

number two,

“What do we do to help the victim and help the survivor recover?”

‘There was a lot of politics overtaking policy [SB 14]Atty General Rob Bonta added in an interview with The Times on the last night of this year’s legislative session on September 14. “Some people have only had one move, one tool in their toolbox. And they use it all the time. And it’s just more and more of an endless punishment.”

Bonta said it’s not that human trafficking and other sex crimes aren’t serious or violent, but that California needs to approach these issues more carefully than in decades past, when the state ushered in tough-on-crime policies that jailed tens of thousands of people. mainly black and brown people.

Supporters of SB 14 often forget that convicted human traffickers of minors already face justice

Up to 12 years in prison, or 15 years to life if the crime involves force, coercion or violence, among other things, Bonta said.

“There’s a balance there,” he said. “I don’t think three strikes is the right move for California.”

California Democrats are changing course after killing a bill to tighten penalties for child sex trafficking

Others see SB 14 as an opportunity for victims to have a seat at the table in crafting similar policies, and for lawmakers to see what else is needed to not only prevent crime but also provide care for survivors.

“I have a lot of respect for both sides, and I completely understand where they are coming from,” said Debra Rush, a child sex trafficking survivor and founder of the Fresno Movement.

-based

organization Breaking the Chains, which supported SB 14.

“I think this is where change happens,” Rush said. “I think if we try to exclude one group or the other… I think we’re going to end up in chaos.”