Originally Published at Los Angeles Sentinel
By Antonio Ray Harvey
Stephany Powell, an advocate for sex crime victims and survivors, hopes Gov. Newsom will veto Senate Bill (SB) 357.
The legislation proposes ending punishment for people “loitering in a public place with the intent to commit prostitution.”
Powell, who is Director of Law Enforcement Training and Survivor Services for the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), and other advocates say, if the bill is signed into law, it would provide increased “open-air” activities in disadvantaged communities.
“I’m just thinking about the people living in the communities that would have to deal with (prostitution),” said Dr. Powell, a former city of Los Angeles law enforcement officer. “They (the lawmakers) need to come up with something else because it’s a band-aid approach to the issue. People who don’t have a full understanding of how this can be problematic. I hope it’s vetoed.”
