#prop 35

Measure B and Prop 35 both passed.

Many of my porn friends are just heartbroken and confused

My sex worker friends are extremely heartbroken as well. They are risking it all to get by in life.

the-blonde-in-question reblogged your post: Why You Should Vote Yes on Proposition 35

As far as I can tell, the really problematic part of the law...as follows: My comments...

Still in favor of it. Here's why.

SEC. 6. Section 236.1 of the Penal Code is amended to read:   236.1. (a) Any person who deprives or violates the personal liberty of another with the intent to effect or maintain a felony violation of Section 266, 266h, 266i, 267, 311.4, or 518, or to obtain forced labor or services, is guilty of human trafficking and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for 5, 8, or 12 years and a fine of not more than five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000).

And later on:

(3) "Deprivation or violation of the personal liberty of another" includes substantial and sustained restriction of another's liberty accomplished through force, fear, fraud, deceit, coercion, violence, duress, menace, or threat of unlawful injury to the victim or to another person, under circumstances where the person receiving or apprehending the threat reasonably believes that it is likely that the person making the threat would carry it out.     (4) "Duress" includes a direct or implied threat of force, violence, danger, hardship, or retribution sufficient to cause a reasonable person to acquiesce in or perform an act which he or she would otherwise not have submitted to or performed; a direct or implied threat to destroy, conceal, remove, confiscate, or possess any actual or purported passport or immigration document of the victim; or knowingly destroying, concealing, removing, confiscating, or possessing any actual or purported passport or immigration document of the victim.     (5) "Forced labor or services" means labor or services that are performed or provided by a person and are obtained or maintained through force, fraud, duress, or coercion, or equivalent conduct that would reasonably overbear the will of the person.     (6) "Great bodily injury" means a significant or substantial physical injury.     (7) "Minor" means a person less than 18 years of age.     (8) "Serious harm" includes any harm, whether physical or nonphysical, including psychological, financial, or reputational harm, that is sufficiently serious, under all the surrounding circumstances, to compel a reasonable person of the same background and in the same circumstances to perform or to continue performing labor, services, or commercial sexual acts in order to avoid incurring that harm.   (i) The total circumstances, including the age of the victim, the relationship between the victim and the trafficker or agents of the trafficker, and any handicap or disability of the victim, shall be factors to consider in determining the presence of "deprivation or violation of the personal liberty of another," "duress," and "coercion" as described in this section.

So, first off, there has to be "deprivation or violation of the personal liberty of another." Second, there must be an "intent...to obtain forced labor or services" from that person. Then, they define what constitutes deprivation or violation of personal liberty. That's not vague and overreaching, like I've heard opponents say. I'd say, in fact, that with just those qualifications, it would be pretty difficult to convict a roommate or family member of a prostitute of being a sex trafficker, unless there was evidence to show that the roommate or family member deprived that prostitute of personal liberty in a way defined in the text of the proposal, and intended to gain forced labor of services from that.

Another argument that I've heard against the proposal is that it's definition of a commercial sex act is too broad. Here's that definition:

    (2) "Commercial sex act" means sexual conduct on account of which anything of value is given or received by any person.

However, a quick ctrl+F of the document shows that any uses of the term commercial sex act within the text are only in regards to sexual activity with minors, not consenting adults. Considering that fact, I'm not terribly concerned about the definition.