NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A849
SPONSOR: Gottfried TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the penal law, in relation to decriminalizing sex work;
and to repeal certain provisions of such law relating to prostitution
(Part A); to amend the criminal procedure law, the civil practice law
and rules, the social services law, and the administrative code of the
city of New York, in relation to eliminating prior criminal records and
making other related changes; and to repeal certain provisions of the
criminal procedure law relating to the prosecution of prostitution
offenses (Part B); and to amend the multiple dwelling law, the public
health law, the real property actions and proceedings law, the real
property law, the vehicle and traffic law, and the administrative code
of the city of New York, in relation to making conforming changes (Part
C)
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To repeal statutes that criminalize sex work between consenting adults,
but keep laws relating to minors or trafficking, and to provide for
criminal record relief for people convicted of crimes repealed under
this bill.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Part A repeals and amends parts of Penal Law Article 230 that make sex
work between consenting adults illegal, and it repeals section 240.37,
the prohibition on loitering for the purpose of engaging in a prostitu-
tion offense. The amendments make clear that sex work involving minors,
force, intimidation, coercion, and trafficking all remain illegal.
Part B repeals and amends parts of the Criminal Procedure Law, Civil
Practice Law and Rules, Social Services Law, and Administrative Code of
the City of New York to provide for criminal record relief for individ-
uals previously convicted of crimes that are repealed under this bill.
Part C repeals and amends parts of the Multiple Dwelling Law, Public
Health Law, Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law, Real Property
Law, Vehicle and Traffic Law, and the Administrative Code of the City of
New York to make conforming changes and clarifications.
JUSTIFICATION:
New York state law contains over a dozen criminal and civil provisions
that punish adults who consent to sell or buy sex, as well as those who
help and depend on them, not to mention the numerous prohibitions and
punishments for prostitution in a wide variety of laws. Trying to stop
sex work between consenting adults should not be the business of our
criminal justice system. Criminalizing sex work criminalizes a means of
survival for marginalized people, and it makes LGBTQ people especially
vulnerable to police harassment and arrest based on their gender
expression and sexuality.
Criminalization drives sex work into the shadows in an underground ille-
gal environment where sex workers face increased violence, abuse, and
exploitation, and are more vulnerable to trafficking. Though anti-sex
work laws may have originally been conceived as a protection of socie-
ty's morals and perhaps even women, these laws now criminalize women and
LGBTQ people for acts of survival and resistance to the force of econom-
ic insecurity. Decriminalizing sex work upholds the rights of those who
trade sex, reduces violence and trafficking, and increases labor
protections.
Decriminalization of sex work is supported by the World Health Organiza-
tion, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Global Alliance
Against Trafficking in Women, Lambda Legal, the ACLU, GMHC, the NYC
Anti-Violence Project, Make The Road NY, the Association of Legal Aid
Attorneys, the Urban Justice Center, Womankind, VOCAL-NY, Center for
Constitutional Rights, Center for HIV Law and Policy, UNAIDS, Housing
Works, and a growing list of other organizations.
This bill does not alter the criminal and civil legal provisions under
which individuals who engage in trafficking, coercion, sexual abuse,
abuse of minors, or rape may be prosecuted. In fact, when the law
differentiates between sex work between consenting adults and situations
where a party does not consent or that involve minors, sex workers will
have an increased ability to report abuse, rape, theft, and other crimes
perpetrated against them that today go ignored and are exacerbated by
law enforcement activity.
The bill allows individuals who have been previously convicted of
offenses repealed in this bill to vacate those judgments of conviction.
This will enable them to access housing, health, and economic resources
that are currently off-limits to them because of their criminal records.
Record relief will also allow people to transition into other employment
if they choose, without the stigma and harassment that often follows
from having a criminal record with prostitution convictions.
History shows us that criminalizing sex work between consenting adults
does not end the demand for sex work, and it certainly does not improve
the lives of people who participate in the sex trades by choice, circum-
stance, or coercion, or people who are profiled as sex workers. Instead
of treating all people in the sex trades as criminals, victims, or both,
it is time to create a more nuanced legal approach to the sex trades.
Sex workers want decriminalization so they can work in a legal environ-
ment, work without fear of the police, report any violence they experi-
ence, and report trafficking when it affects their peers. It is time to
put people before antiquated moral judgments.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2019-2020: A8230 referred to Codes committee
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect thirty days after it becomes law.
