77th (2013) Session
Opinions
View all submitted comments for each bill by the most recent, by votes for, or by votes against.
| AB67 | ||
| - | ||
| For | I urge all the state senators to protect women and children from the horrors of involuntary servitude that is sex trafficking--Please vote for AB67. Thank you, | May-23-2013 |
| For | We need to be support our AG, but most of all, the victims of these crimes! | May-15-2013 |
| For | May-14-2013 | |
| Against | Again, I am still concerned about the implications and consequences of this bill for the State of Nevada and for the people it is meant to help. In financial terms, the state seems to be taking on a huge financial task here, and I know others have written to you about this. Considering that the State of California is now fretting over the fiscal impact as well as the legality of similar legislation recently enacted, I think it wise for our state to think about what will happen if this bill passes. And second--and more importantly--I am still concerned that this bill will do little to help those who are victims of sex trafficking. Such a bill also does little to help victims of other forms of trafficking which are actually more common. And finally, such a bill has been shown to negatively impact people who are engaging in sexual commerce. Instead of spending time and money here, I think such funds are much better served shoring up assistance for homeless youth, engaging families and schools to identify and reduce bullying and abuse (reasons youth runaway and end up on the street). Again, I'm still concerned about the vague provisions that still exist in AB 67 that will, in effect, criminalize people who are not traffickers or trafficking victims: 1) the expanded definition of prostitution (i.e., engaging in sexual conduct for a fee, monetary consideration or other thing of value--p. 20, line 36), 2) overly broad definitions that could be used to incriminate anyone in the support network of a minor who engages in the sex trades (p. 22, lines 13-17--with the unintended consequence of driving good people out of their networks resulting in greater risk of harm), 3) NRS 201.320 being included, i.e., living off the earnings of a prostitute--without force, fraud, or coercion. | May-13-2013 |
| Against | I am concerned that the cost of AB 67 is seriously underestimated. Similar sex trafficking legislation, Prop 35 was passed in Cali by ballot initiative in November 2012. At a recent meeting regarding this issue at San Francisco Human Rights Commission, prosecutors discussed the unintended fiscal consequences. Among these is that high penalties & fees will result in more trials & make plea bargains far less likely. Out of court settlements are no longer attractive to defendants because nobody wants to end up with a lengthy prison sentence, so they have nothing to lose by taking every case to trial. Increased costs will be in lengthy trials including convictions that are likely to result in appeals, more juries who have to be compensated, a new breed of expert witnesses, and higher rates of incarceration ($20,656 avg annual in NV per person) for mandatory minimums (5-15 years) at least if convicted. While there is *no scientifically valid evidence on the extent of the problem of sex trafficking in Nevada*, the state should handle real situations of sexual exploitation with surgical precision to ensure limited resources are used appropriately rather than applying a costly & wasteful blanket approach. Vague provisions if retained have the potential to criminalize more people who are not exploiters: 1) the expanded definition of prostitution (engaging in sexual conduct for a fee, "monetary consideration or other thing of value"), 2) overly broad definitions that could be used to incriminate anyone in the support network of a minor who engages in the sex trades--with the unintended consequence of driving good people out of their networks resulting in greater risk of harm, 3) NRS 201.320 being included, living off the earnings of a prostitute--w/out force, fraud, or coercion. Part of the population that fits the vague definition of child sex trafficking, such as street kids' networks, has no resources that can be forfeited to the state to cover any costs of prosecution. | May-13-2013 |
| For | My name is Andrea Swanson. I am a school nurse in Las Vegas and a concerned mother of 4. I am writing to voice my support of AB 67. I came to Carson City this winter and testified to the joint session of The Assembly and Sentate Judiciary committees. In short my own family was affected by Sex trafficking in that my daughter was recruited in her junior and senrior years of HS and ultimately turned out onto the streets of Las Vegas by her boyfriend turned PIMP! We Nevadans need to stand up against the PIMPS and protect our daughters and the other victims. The AGs bill has come at a time when we have just begun to realize the problem and decide as a people to fight asgainst this evil. Please make protecting and caring for our children and victims a priority! Thank You, Andrea Swanson | May-13-2013 |
| For | May-12-2013 | |
| For | This legislation brought by Nevada’s Attorney General, Catherine Cortez Masto, is exactly the place Nevada needs to move forward on the crime of sex trafficking. Sex trafficking has become a very profitable industry for the increasing gang presence in our communities. It fits perfectly with their business goals and geography (weekly rentals): They are targeting our children in our schools and malls – places where our children should feel safe. It is critical that we enable the police to arrest them, attorneys to prosecute them and seize their assets and judges to serve longer prison sentences to prevent further manipulation of their victims. It is time we call sex trafficking what it is. As adults, we are responsible for protecting our children. As citizens we need to say, "It is NOT okay!" | May-10-2013 |
| For | May-01-2013 | |
| For | Very needed. Please pass. | Apr-26-2013 |
| For | Apr-25-2013 | |
| For | Apr-24-2013 | |
| For | Apr-20-2013 | |
| For | Apr-18-2013 | |
| For | The bill defines sex trafficking, stiffens criminal penalties, provides tools for victims and law enforcement officers and includes customers of trafficked persons in the same criminal class as the traffickers in some cases. Please pass this law and protect victims of modern day slavery! | Apr-15-2013 |
| For | Apr-11-2013 | |
| For | Apr-10-2013 | |
| For | This bill is way overdue. We lose precious youth while pimps threaten, kill, and control our streets. Stop them. Serious punishment to those who abuse youth, including payment for damages and incarceration. | Apr-10-2013 |
| For | My purpose in writing to you is to ask for your support of AB 67. Among some of the provisions in this bill it will provide law enforcement with the tools to protect children and prosecute perpetrators of child sex trafficking. It changes the crime of "pandering" to the crime of "sex trafficking" and strengthens the terms of imprisonment and fines imposed against a person convicted of sex trafficking. A minor is not legally or morally able to give consent and traffickers target our most vulnerable children. These changes will help support the courts in keeping the perpetrators in prison longer, giving these kids time and safety to escape this slavery. It strengthens the law by providing that a convicted felon would be required to register as a sex offender to allow the public awareness of the dangerous criminal in the community | Apr-09-2013 |
| Against | I believe this bill is too broad. | Apr-09-2013 |
| Against | Follow the money and "game plan" to eliminate the demand for commercial sex... because prohibitionism worked so well. Polaris Project, the out-of-state org who brought this bill was a part of a 2010 National Planning Meeting commissioned by Hunt Alternatives Fund. Framing: "the campaign may oppose sexual slavery, sex trafficking, prostitution, and all sexual exploitation, but it being framed or 'branded' as focusing on any one of those issues has implications for garnering support and minimizing effective resistance, and this in turn affects its prospects for success. Framing the Campaign’s key target as sexual slavery might garner more support and less resistance, while framing the Campaign as combating prostitution may be less likely to mobilize similar levels of support and to stimulate stronger opposition." "Research, education, and social marketing aimed at shifting social norms, from the current tolerance or support for commercial sex (“the oldest profession,” “victimless crime,” “sex work”) to seeing it as a serious crime and violation of human rights." It is no accident that Nevada is being targeted for its legal brothel businesses and "Sin City" Las Vegas. http://www.demandabolition.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Abt-executive-summary-Developing-a-National-Action-Plan-for-Eliminating-Sex-Trafficking.pdf | Apr-09-2013 |
| For | Apr-02-2013 | |
| For | I support this bill. It is long overdue here in Nevada | Apr-01-2013 |
| For | Please help reduced our underage girls (and boys) from this violence. | Mar-29-2013 |
| Against | I have researched the impact of anti-trafficking laws on sex workers, particularly sex workers who are organizing to increase their safety and well-being. Anti-trafficking laws like this broaden the definition of prostitution to the point that people who consensual sell sex are negatively impacted. Further, there is little research to show that these laws actually help victims of sex trafficking. I worry that poor people who are engaging in prostitution will be negatively impacted by people who assume that they are trafficked, and end up getting arrested. I encourage the legislature to consider the meaning and impact of this bill. | Mar-25-2013 |
| For | This is extremely important legislation. Protecting minor children from sex trafficking nation wide is urgent but in Southern Nevada it is more important because of the tourism and its where my grandchildren live. I hope by having strong sentences and changing pandering to what it really is that is sex trafficking Nevada can help be a leader in the US on this bill and not always last in everything. | Mar-23-2013 |
| For | Mar-23-2013 | |
| For | I am an active member of Nevadans for the Common Good and along with other members of my church (Episcopal Church of the Epiphany) we strongly support this bill. In particular, we believe changing "pandering" to sex trafficing is extremely important, as is the increased penalities, and sentences. | Mar-22-2013 |
| For | Mar-21-2013 | |
| For | Mar-21-2013 | |
| Against | Mar-19-2013 | |
| For | Mar-19-2013 | |
| For | Mar-19-2013 | |
| For | Mar-18-2013 | |
| For | Mar-17-2013 | |
| For | Mar-16-2013 | |
| For | Mar-14-2013 | |
| For | Mar-12-2013 | |
| Against | this bill would further marginalize vulnerable populations by too loosely defining "sex trafficker" and by preventing people in this population from helping each other survive | Mar-11-2013 |
| For | Thank you Judge Voy, Nevadans for the Common Good, Catherine Cortez Masto and all others. This is a vital leap towards justice for all. As a CASA volunteer, we have witness the desparate need for the measures in this bill. | Mar-10-2013 |
| For | Mar-04-2013 | |
| For | Feb-28-2013 | |
| Against | Of course EVERY decent member of society is against this terrible crime against young victims. So am I. And, restituion, a fund, or safe house for victims is a must. BUT, sex trafficing of young innocent victims has been occuring in many forms since the hsitory of mankind. Exisiting laws have been tried and constitutional tested for many years (especially in NV) and are effective enough for this terrible but complicated crime. The great former president JFK's,in his inaugural speech, stated the common enemies of all mankind are: tyranny, disease, POVERTY, and war itself. If we can win war against POVERTY, we can help end or minimize this terrible crime against society of child sex trafficking and other terrible crimes. People do desperate things to survive in this world. Many crimes against society could be ended or minimized if more people just had a decent job, food, clothing, and shelter. | Feb-27-2013 |
| For | Feb-27-2013 | |
| For | Feb-25-2013 | |
| For | It is time to better protect our children from sex trafficking in NV. This is a crime that he gone on for way too long. Put the pimps out of business and call them what they are sex offenders. | Feb-25-2013 |
| Against | Feb-24-2013 | |
| For | As an individual, a member of Soroptimist International of Greater Las Vevas. and a voter, I strongly urge you to vote for AB67. We need to increase penalties for pimps & Johns, require them to register as sex offenders, and help the 12-20 year old victims get out of that lifestyle. It says something when the resort association and the brothels support this bill. The time is now for all of us to support it. | Feb-23-2013 |
| For | Feb-23-2013 | |
| For | Please help us pass this bill, and protect our citizens. | Feb-23-2013 |
| For | Feb-23-2013 | |
| For | Feb-22-2013 | |
| For | Feb-21-2013 | |
| For | Feb-21-2013 | |
| For | Sex trafficking is a serious problem here in Nevada. In my two years working here as a professional, I met more people directly affected by this issue then my all my 25+ years or practice in other states. Kidnapping of children and young adults has to stop. It is physically and emotionally scaring lives. | Feb-20-2013 |
| For | Let's do this...show that we care about doing something about child abuse... | Feb-20-2013 |
| For | Feb-20-2013 | |
| For | Very good idea to have restitution as part of the bill, as in my experience sexually exploited individuals often fear destitution if they expose their pimp. | Feb-20-2013 |
| For | Feb-20-2013 | |
| For | Feb-20-2013 | |
| For | Feb-20-2013 | |
| For | We must prevent the selling of children in Nevada! Please help! I strongly support increased prison time for pimps who sell children & restitution for victims. | Feb-20-2013 |
| For | Feb-20-2013 | |
| For | I agree that pimps need to be punished for their crimes and should have to pay restitution. Women do need to have a program to go to when they want to get out of the business. The thing is, is that they are saying that they are raising money to open an institution for women getting out of the sex trade, but they will not give any information on who the donors are or how much money they have received. There are programs out there... Taps for one. Look up the website. They've been helping people for years, yet will not be getting any funding from this fund raising. Where is the money really going to? Jody Williams has dedicated her life to this work and no one mentioned her name or the many letters she sent out in the subject. What's really going on here? | Feb-20-2013 |
| For | Please support this clearly important step that Nevada can take to save many present and future young people from immense physical and emotional damage. | Feb-19-2013 |
| For | Feb-19-2013 | |
| For | Feb-19-2013 | |
| For | Feb-19-2013 | |
| For | Protect our children | Feb-19-2013 |
| For | Feb-19-2013 | |
| For | I am a parishioner of the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany and Nevadans for the Common Good. I live in your district and I support the legislation on Sex Trafficking of Minor Children. Please vote YES on AB 67. Carol Ann Thoreson122 Painted Valley Street Henderson, NV 89074 702-269-8240 | Feb-18-2013 |
| For | I am a parishioner of the Church of the Epiphany and a member of Nevadans for the Common Good. I live in your district and support the legislation on Sex Trafficking of Minor Children. Please vote YES on AB 67. I feel that this is one way we can help the victims and help remedy a very dangerous segment of our society. I hope that you will see the value of the legislation because how many times and in how many ways can we let our children down? We really need to take this step to assure that these lives can be salvaged and dignity with options be restored to the victims. | Feb-18-2013 |
| For | sex trafficking uses underage persons solicited and brainwashed by pimps who take innocent children into their realm and then captivate them. They become victims with very little if any option to get out. This is a far cry from prostitution, it is using and abusing underage persons. The pimps need to serve time, much longer than now given and the victims need to be seen as victims. This is the first step in addressing this involuntary servitude. Most of these children are 13-15 years of age and are coerced into sex trafficking while the pimp gets very little punishment. | Feb-18-2013 |
| For | Feb-18-2013 | |
| For | I believe this is a significant step toward eradicating a serious problem in Nevada. Thank you for supporting it. | Feb-18-2013 |
| For | As a retired corrections administrator who worked with female offenders for 20 years I have learned that the cost of doing nothing about this issue is greater than is commonly known ...substance abuse, STD's, public assistance, unwanted pregnancies, mental health costs, incarceration costs, etc. | Feb-18-2013 |
| For | we need to step up and help put a stop to human sex trafficking in our communities. Help make a difference and vote for this bill to help combat this horible crime | Feb-18-2013 |
| For | Feb-17-2013 | |
| For | A female or any human being is not an object. Most especially, children are innocent human beings and MUST be protected. Please do not go into denial on this cause and see to it that those people that commit these horrible acts and are so insensitive, be punished to the fulliest.......Thank you | Feb-17-2013 |
| Against | This bill will only serve to criminalize disadvantaged people who have been forced into sex work based on economic circumstances. From my research on underaged sex workers, many of them work together to get each other work--would those teenagers be considered traffickers? What about partners, friends, and family members who depend on those earnings for survival? From my research, very few of these young people could be considered trafficked, or even pimped, and they were more likely to be harmed at the hands of law enforcement than a pimp o trafficker. If we really want to reduce instances of underage sex work, we need social programs, not greater law enforcement. This bill will put more power into the hands of individuals who do not have the greater interests of these young people in mind. Findings from the NY site of this research can be found here: http://www.courtinnovation.org/sites/default/files/CSEC_NYC_Volume1.pdf | Feb-17-2013 |
| For | Feb-17-2013 | |
| For | This bill needs to become law. | Feb-17-2013 |
| For | AB 67, AB 113, SB 103, Sen. Kieckhefer's proposal on the statute of limitations on child sexual abuse, and all of Assemblyman Hambrick's bils need to be looked at together--none is perfect, but there's good in all. This is an issue that has been "swept under the rug" for too long. Every legislator should be proud to support protection of women and children from sexual exploitation. | Feb-16-2013 |
| For | Feb-15-2013 | |
| For | Feb-15-2013 | |
| For | Imperative that this be confirmed. Slavery, servitude, trafficking needs to be eradicated in our time and for all time! | Feb-15-2013 |
| For | The sex trafficking of adults and minors is a brutal crime, largely perpetrated against minors. Victims' rights must be protected to allow them legal recourse and to give the State tools to prosecute the perpetrators. | Feb-15-2013 |
| For | Please support this bill so that those who perpetrate this heinous crime might come to swifter justice and stop the victimization of young women and children in Nevada. | Feb-14-2013 |
| For | Feb-13-2013 | |
| For | Feb-12-2013 | |
| For | I was at the press conference at the Capital yesterday and was so impressed with Rep. Sprinkle's response to this important issue. Thank you. | Feb-12-2013 |
| For | Please support victim's rights! | Feb-11-2013 |
| For | We have had enough. Save our victimized child, don't criminalize them. | Feb-11-2013 |
| For | Feb-11-2013 | |
| For | Please pass this incredibly important bill against sex trafficking. It is a violent crime and laws need to reflect the need to protect our children and adults against trafficking. | Feb-11-2013 |
| For | Feb-11-2013 | |
| For | Feb-11-2013 | |
| For | Feb-11-2013 | |
| For | This is a moral issue. As a voter, and ordained minister, if we cannot be against slavery, what can we be against! | Feb-11-2013 |
| For | Feb-11-2013 | |
| For | As a long-time Nevada resident, I am angry that this activity has been tolerated in the state. It seems to me to be the height of hypocrisy to deny legal status to the houses of prostitution that protect the women and yet turn a blind eye to outrageous behavior that would be punished if this bill is passed. As a person of faith (Episcopal), I believe we have a moral obligation to help these people, especially the young boys and girls caught up in the sex trade. | Feb-11-2013 |
| Against | Anyone that has actually read and back tracked the applicable statutes that this changes will see that this is THE bill of unintended consequences. This bill, as written, would make ME a sex trafficker for offering to buy my partner dinner with the agreement that I could receive a hug. I wouldn't have to buy the thing of value or receive the hug and I could still be arrested. It's literally that broadly worded. Pass this law as is and it'll be held up by judicial injunction before the ink dries. I can only guess that people "for" it either haven't read it or think anyone that has sex should be jailed. | Feb-11-2013 |
| Against | Why is this bill 39 pages? Why is the definition of sex trafficking expanded to be so overly broad as to define many innocent people as sex traffickers? Who stands to gain from that? There is a lot of federal funding currently available for trafficking, huh? What outside interest wrote this bill? Pandering & living from the earnings of a prostitute are NOT trafficking. In fact, that puts Nevada legal brothel businesses at risk. Is an ultimate goal to end legal prostitution in Nevada under the guise of sex trafficking? Removal of "This section does not apply to the customer of a prostitute" (p. 30)--is that a move toward end demand for commercial sex policies? How would that further hurt our economy in rural Nevada and sin city Las Vegas? If you really care about sex trafficking victims, we must stop conflating consensual adult sex with child sex slavery. Why is the definition of prostitution expanded so broad to include any sexual act, even agreed to or offered, for something of value? Doesn't that include most relationships, including marriage? Why is consent as a defense in prosecution removed? Where are the statistics that demonstrate the need for such drastic criminalizing measures? There are no reliable trafficking statistics in the US. Why are we focusing on over-incarceration rather than prevention? Where is the oversight & accountability for the law enforcement and non-profits that stand to benefit from this? Are any of these people running the non-profits that stand to gain from asset forfeiture survivors of trafficking? Street kids are more afraid of law enforcement than they are of pimps as they report 4% abuse by pimps and 30% by police in research from the recent Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) community project. California Proposition 35, the CASE Act is very similar to this bill and is now held up by court injunction for violating civil rights. Do we want to cost our state that money or fix this bill now? www.nevadansagainstAB67.com | Feb-11-2013 |
| Against | our state deserves a more thoughtful and more carefully written bill. as written, bill is highly problematic relative to its impact on sex workers and what it means to be "forced" into various activities. also, language regarding registering as "sex offender" is currently being challenged in court in california by ACLU. | Feb-10-2013 |
| For | Feb-10-2013 | |
| For | We must take a stand for those children who have no voice. Those found trafficking must be prosecuted to the fullest extent possible. | Feb-10-2013 |
| For | Feb-09-2013 | |
| For | Feb-08-2013 | |
| For | Feb-07-2013 | |
| For | Feb-07-2013 | |
| For | Feb-07-2013 | |
| For | Feb-07-2013 | |
| For | Feb-07-2013 | |
| For | Feb-07-2013 | |
| For | Feb-07-2013 | |
| For | I strongly support this measure. The problem of sex trafficking is becoming a larger world-wide issue. Nevada should be an advocate for protecting the victims of this crime. | Feb-07-2013 |
| For | This is necessary legislation. | Feb-07-2013 |
| For | It's past time we protected our children and correctly call them victims rather than criminals in this situation. | Feb-06-2013 |
| For | This is effective legislation, addressing a huge problem on multiple fronts, with minimal to beneficial fiscal impact. Please, let's get it passed!! | Feb-06-2013 |
| For | I am in complete support of any legislation that places the penalties and blame for human trafficking precisely where they belong: On the shoulders of the TRAFFICKER! The children and others who suffer at the hands of these heartless monsters deserve to have every possible remuneration awarded to them. No one can restore their innocence and trust in people completely, but if they are provided resources toward their recovery, that should help a bit. And conversely, all of the ill-gotten gains of the trafficker should be stripped from them and they should spend the rest of their lives in custody--poetic justice for having stolen liberty from the victims. | Feb-06-2013 |
| For | I strongly support this bill. Among other remedies, it provides for needed strengthening of penalties for those who are convicted of trafficking children in the human sex trade. Sex trafficking is slavery in its most egregious form. For too long, our state has turned a blind eye to the terrible cost paid by our children lost in this industry. Children in this industry are victims, not criminals. LV Metro reports in 2012, 61% of minors arrested for prostitution came from local homes. 91% of those were ages 15 to 18. This bill will be a crucial first step toward curing this blight in our community. | Feb-06-2013 |
| For | Our children are the most valuable natural resources the state of Nevada has. As the mother of a 13 year old daughter and leader in my church's youth group, my heart it to protect my children plus the others in Nevada. When more than 100 Nevada youth are being systematically trafficked for sex annually, it is time for us to act to protect them and help them receive healing. As part of Nevadans for Common Good I stand with the Attorney General on this bill and urge you to pass it... please! | Feb-06-2013 |
| For | Involuntary servitude | Feb-05-2013 |
| For | Feb-04-2013 | |
| For | I wish to protect and rehabilitate any youth who are victims of sex trafficking. I want the pimps or procurers of sex for sale,to be convicted and sentenced the the longer possible sentences. | Jan-29-2013 |
| For | This is a law that is long over-due. GOOD LAW | Jan-17-2013 |
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