What kind of a country do we live in where gays can openly oppose a bill that would make buying sex with children a felony? They claim it will hurt the gay community.
If america had any sense of morals, values and standards these people would be arrested for opposing a bill that is against having sex with children. They should become registered sex offenders just for this alone.
Anyone that isn't against diddling kids has no place in a civilized society. It just goes to show how emboldened the gay community has become when they do this publicly and openly.
If they claim it will effect gays more then doesn't that tell us all something about gays? Maybe tells us gays will be impacted because the gays are having sex with kids the most?
May God help America, because we really could use his help.
Get more information about the bill.
The original version was overly punitive.
reason.com
The bill, SB1414, "was introduced in April by state Sens. Shannon Grove (R–Bakersfield), Anna Caballero (D–Merced), and Susan Rubio (D–Baldwin Park). It would raise the penalties for soliciting a minor for prostitution."
hmmm.....brought by Democrats to raise penalities for soliciting a minor.
The Democratic led State Senate passed the bill 36 - 0
Regarding the amendments:
Under current California law, soliciting someone an offender knows or reasonably should know is a minor for prostitution is a misdemeanor, punishable by mandatory minimum imprisonment of 2 days in county jail and a possible punishment of up to one year in jail and a $10,000 fine.
As introduced, the bill would have raised the offense to a felony and the punishment up to a possible four years in state prison and a fine of $25,000, "regardless of whether" defendants knew or should have known the person was a minor and regardless of whether defendants were themselves above age 18. It also included sex offender registration requirements.
The original version had no mens rea component for applying enhanced penalties—that is, it didn't matter if the person charged had no reason to believe the person solicited was under age 18. And it had no exceptions for when the person doing the soliciting was also a minor.
Under the amended versions of SB 1414, solicitation of a minor would sometimes be a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in county jail and sometimes be a felony punishable by up to three years in county jail. The stronger punishment would be available only when the defendant was 18 or older and "knew or should have known that the person who was solicited was a minor at the time of the offense." And it would only apply when "the solicited minor was under 16 years of age at the time of the offense, or if the person solicited was under 18 years of age at the time of the offense and the person solicited was a victim of human trafficking." A second or subsequent offense would always be a felony, and an offender more than 10 years older than the solicited minor would have to register as a sex offender for 10 years.
Note that nothing in the bill (as introduced or amended) would change penalties for people who force or coerce minors into prostitution. Nor would it affect the laws surrounding sexual activity with a minor. This is about solicitation, which is essentially a speech crime—the asking about sexual activity or offering of money for sex.
"The bill does not require physical contact or sexual contact with the minor victim,"
according to the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. "There are already felony crimes associated with actual lewd or sexual contact with a minor."
I hope the bill passes. There are complaints by some that the amendments water down the bill, but they add clarification.
The LBTGQ community is worried that they will get a felony when they do not realize the other person is 16 or 17. But soliciting is a illegal. The LBTGQ community pushes things too far.
But keep in mind that this bill was brought by Democrats and passed a Democratic led Senate.
