LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Adult sex trafficking victims who get caught working as prostitutes would receive immunity from prosecution under a bill that won preliminary approval in the Nebraska Legislature on Wednesday.
Nebraska already provides legal immunity to juvenile sex trafficking victims, and the proposal by Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln would extend the protection to adults. Advocates say current law punishes victims who are controlled or coerced by pimps.
“We need to recognize these women and men that are trafficked as victims,” Pansing Brooks said. “This is to allow law enforcement to gain trust (of the victim) and access to the true criminal, the trafficker.”
Senators gave the measure first-round approval with a 32-0 vote.
The bill is the latest in a series of steps that Nebraska officials have taken to fight human trafficking. Last year, Attorney General Doug Peterson hired a human trafficking coordinator within his office and announced that the state had received a $1.5 million federal grant to address the problem.
Senators and Gov. Pete Ricketts also approved a law that imposed harsher criminal penalties on human traffickers and allowed victims or a victim’s parents to sue them. Supporters called the bill a public health issue and pointed to reports citing weak enforcement in the state.
Some senators said they supported the bill’s intent, but raised concerns that it could be unconstitutional because it creates a separate class of person who cannot be prosecuted. The bill could also lead to lawsuits against local police departments if an officer arrests a person who is legally immune under the law, said Sen. Paul Schumacher of Columbus.
“This is the wrong language, written in the wrong way, to try to do a good thing,” said Schumacher, a former prosecutor.
Some also contended that a lack of arrest records makes it harder to track whether a prostitute has been arrested in other states, which can help authorities detect a pattern of human trafficking.
“If you let them go free, there’s no way to trace whether they’ve moved to another city,” said Sen. Burke Harr of Omaha. “I can’t vote for a bill that I think would have the unintended consequence of encouraging prostitution.”
Sen. Dave Bloomfield of Hoskins said the state should take proactive steps to let sex trafficking victims know about the bill if it passes, possibly with signs at truck stops. Bloomfield, a retired truck driver, said he was frequently propositioned at stops while sleeping in his rig.
Nebraska’s 2013 immunity law for juvenile sex trafficking victims also increased the penalties for solicitation of a minor and created a new criminal charge for maintaining a house of prostitution with a minor. According to the group Shared Hope International, which fights to end human trafficking, children are 12 to 14 years old on average when they are forced into the sex trade.
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The bill is LB843
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