Florida to use online registry to shame people who buy sex
Floridians caught trying to buy sex will soon find their mugshot online for the world to see. A new law that took effect Monday will create an online registry of people found guilty of soliciting prostitution.
The online database of sex buyers is part of a broader effort to crack down on human trafficking.The registry will target “Johns” who buy sex as opposed to prostitutes who could be forced into sex work, said state Sen. Lauren Book, D-Plantation. [FAC NOTE: YEAH RIGHT!]
Opponents argue the new law will do little to stop human trafficking while hurting people who have already been punished for their crimes by making it harder for them to find work and housing.
Discover more from Florida Action Committee
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
I remember watching the hearings on this law when it was a bill. Several women spoke out against it, but they were either ignored or patronized by Book and her co-whores. Those actions prove that this law and the registry are crafted and perpetuated by an emotional, hysterical agenda by hysterical, vengeful people, while ignoring empirical evidence and subject-matter experts.
It’s so sad that Florida has become the paradise-lost Floriduh. So-called lawmakers continue to pass unconstitutional laws which must be challenged in court, costing millions while registered citizens languish for decades, loathed by society and unable to find stable housing and employment.
Why do we think the database will capture sex workers and not just Johns? Is that what the language of the statute allows for?
Just trying to make sense of a little FAC editorial snark.
Unfortunately the source article was unavailable to me, having already exceeded the Sun Sentinel monthly limit reading about Ft Lauderdale SORR, etc.
“Floridians caught trying to buy sex will soon find their mugshot online for the world to see. A new law that took effect Monday will create an online registry of people found guilty of soliciting prostitution. The online database of sex buyers is part of a broader effort to crack down on human trafficking.
The registry will target “Johns” who buy sex as opposed to prostitutes who could be forced into sex work, said state Sen. Lauren Book, D-Plantation. “If we go after demand we’ll decrease the likelihood someone is purchased,” said Book, who sponsored the legislation. “We are saying not here, not now. We are going to take steps to ensure modern-day slavery is closed for business here in the state of Florida.” Book cited a 2011 study in which 89% of men who buy sex told interviewers they would be deterred if they knew their name could be added to a registry.
Opponents argue the new law will do little to stop human trafficking while hurting people who have already been punished for their crimes by making it harder for them to find work and housing. Christine Hanavan, who works with the Sex Worker Outreach Project, told lawmakers they should be focused on collaborating with “consensual sex workers” to combat human trafficking rather than passing further punitive measures that will do little to solve the problem. “Criminalization is the root cause of trafficking,” she said during a hearing in Tallahassee. “Prohibition didn’t end drinking, and it can’t end sex work. What it can do is make it more dangerous. … We need to stop going after the men who pay for sex and go after the men who think they can just take it.”
A sting geared at human trafficking in the massage parlor industry brought a renewed focus on the issue during this year’s legislative agenda. New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft was one of about two dozen men charged in February and accused of buying sex at the Orchids of Asia day spa in Jupiter. Kraft has pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charges.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is in the planning stages for the new registry and has not determined when it will launch, agency spokeswoman Jessica Cary said. The database will become effective Jan. 1, 2021, according to the law. People who are found guilty of soliciting prostitution will have their color photo, full legal name, last known address and their offense entered into the database for five years. Repeat offenders will be permanently listed in the database, which must be reauthorized by the Legislature by 2024 to continue operating.
The law also adds new training requirements geared at helping hotel workers, law enforcement and medical personnel spot human trafficking. Massage parlors will be required to post signs on how to report human trafficking, and the state will have more latitude in suspending licenses of operators.”
i think they need to go back 50 years and start putting them on it
There are many reasons I hate this kind of Florida thinking. Adding another proven failure of a tactic is one, but another is that stupid laws like this one minimize the seriousness of legitimate human trafficking.
Human trafficking is a serious and damaging problem. Trying to connect all prostitution to human trafficking is ridiculous and serves no one except for law enforcement. I do acknowledge that victims of human trafficking are forced into prostitution, but not all prostitutes are human traffic victims and not all johns are looking for human traffic meets.
It’s the all or nothing attitude of Florida that makes its attempt to stop and control illegal activity so ineffective. It seems most states have tiered offense levels, view intent on crimes, punish accordingly, and then providing some way back into society. Florida lumps all convicted citizens of a specific crime into the same pot, makes it difficult to impossible to make it through corrections, and then makes it difficult to move back into society as a productive member of society. Florida refuses to acknowledge that people do change and that after mistakes many people turn their life around. That is why Florida will never get a handle on serious crimes.
“Opponents argue the new law will do little to stop human trafficking while hurting people who have already been punished for their crimes by making it harder for them to find work and housing.”
Hmmm. That sounds familiar. Where have I heard that before??….oh yeah, it’s MY LIFE!
I long for the day when Ron and Lauren Book’s live are utterly ruined through scandal, political humiliation, ethical or law violations, etc… And I have NO PROBLEMS stating that on here. To hell with em.
**Speaking of which, where is Ron Book’s DUI case at right now??
Does this include judges, legislators, and politicians? Of course not.