California State Assembly Strikes Down Bill To Increase Child Trafficking Penalties

California continues its hellbent march toward lawlessness following a measure taken by its state assembly. That trajectory continued when the California Assembly Public Safety Committee struck down Senate Bill 14 upon its proposal. The proposed legislation would have classified child trafficking charges as a serious felony along side murder, rape, and other crimes subject to either the death penalty or a sentence of life in prison under the California Penal Code through the state's three strikes law. Additionally, the escalation of charges to the category of being a serious felony would make convicts ineligible for any early release from their prison sentences.

Across the United States, California ranks number one with the highest number of reported cases of human trafficking. To combat that phantasmagorical distinction, Republican State Senator Shannon Grove of California's 12th District drafted Senate Bill 14. Proponents of the bill took to Sacramento to show solidarity for the measure to combat human trafficking in the Golden State. However, the proposal died on the committee floor before it could even be introduced to the lower house of the State Assembly for a vote despite unanimously passing through the State Senate.

Yesterday, California Democrats blocked a bill that would have increased the penalty for trafficking a child to a "serious felony."

Assemblyman @R_JonesSawyer was caught on a hot mic laughing at the victims of human trafficking who heckled him after blocking the bill. pic.twitter.com/sZczaXGcih

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) July 12, 2023

The decision of the California Assembly Public Safety Committee to strike down Senate Bill 14 stirred outrage so fervent that it even resonated across the schism of California's extremely partisan political divide. Even Democratic establishment stalwart Governor Gavin Newsome broke rank with his party to side with the republican-drafted legislation. When hearing that the proposed legislation had been shut down by California's lower house, Gov. Newsome called Sen. Grove in order to discuss reviving the bill. That effort is atypical for Newsome, who all but always distances himself from the internal machinations of the California State Assembly. Given the downward spiral of law and order across California which has seen an astronomical rise in crimes across the state, the optics of shutting down Senate Bill 14 come as another blow to the reputation of Newsome's administration, whose critics have constantly chastised it for failing to protect the interest of public safety.

Of course, Newsome wasn't the only one to offer a rebuke of the committee's decision. Human trafficking survivor and advocate Odessa Perkins was in Sacramento to attend the committee's consideration of the bill. When the measure failed, those in attendance were unable to restrain their dismay, with one supporter lashing out by yelling "horrible!" at the committee. Others shouted "cowards" at committee members as many more broke into tears over the decision. Perkins better articulated that impassioned response from the crowd, stating "By making this public, the traffickers will know that they still have time to continue their vile activities and make money off these children[.]"

California's republican establishment further echoed Perkins' vitriol. "You know you’re on the wrong side of an issue when you deliver a win for human traffickers. Democrats on the Public Safety Committee proved they have no intention of protecting the lives of Californians, let alone protecting innocent children from the horrors of human trafficking," California GOP chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson stated. "Any normal person would tell you that human trafficking a minor is a serious crime, but Democrats would rather enable these monsters than hold them accountable," California Assembly Republican leader James Gallagher added in support of his party's position on the proposed legislation.

While Gallagher and Patterson's opportunistic criticisms of their democratic opposition embody a larger issue in that evils as vile as child trafficking are subject to politicization, their position isn't without good reason. Despite unanimously passing the State Senate, no democrats on the Public Safety Committee voted in favor of the bill. While the actual votes cast in favor of the bill were made by two republicans sitting on the committee, the remaining six committee members abstained from voting. By withholding their votes, the bill failed to meet the majority vote it required to pass through the committee.

Assembly Majority Leader Isaac Bryan, a Democrat from Los Angeles, offered the rationale for his party's opposition to the proposed bill at committee. “Longer sentences don’t actually stop things from happening,"  he said, continuing “All they do is increase our investment in systems of harm and subjugation at the expense of the investments that the communities need to not have this be a problem to begin with.” Reggie Jones-Sawyer, the Democratic Chair of the Public Safety Committee offered closer insight into the factional position that led his party to abstain from any vote in favor of the bill. “The Three Strikes model of sentencing is ineffective in preventing crime and protecting the public’s safety," he said in a statement following the vote. “We will not build on a deeply flawed sentencing system that unfairly punishes disadvantaged communities.”

The decision of the leadership of California's Public Safety Committee to oppose Senate Bill 14 by executing a tactic in which the democratic members members on the committee abstained from voting instead of actively voting against it is a double edged sword. On the one hand, it does show there is a path forward to pass a revised version of the bill, as evidenced by the fact that Senate Bill 14 has already been granted a motion for reconsideration. However, the political posturing of democrats in California's lower house shows that their iron-fisted grasp is the only thing keeping the proverbial sword of Damocles from falling upon the heads of their constituents. With partisan division being willing to stoop so low as to mortgage the future and safety of Californians over pedantic political posturing, it's hard to imagine that there is any democratic solution to the public safety crisis consuming the state.