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Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Petition Action Alert
Status Report on the Petition of “Non Enforcement of the Prostitution Laws and Protection of Sex Workers Ordinance”
The 180 period to collect signatures to qualify the petition for a ballot initiative has expired, but you can still call the Supervisors below and tell them to put the petition on the ballot for the 2007 election cycle.
Call to Action:
Call or Write the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and tell them they need to show some leadership and that you want to see the petition of “Non Enforcement of the Prostitution Laws and Protection of Sex Workers Ordinance” on the ballot this November! Remember, if we can’t stop the enforcement of the prostitution laws in San Francisco, where can it be done?
Supervisor Tom Ammiano (415) 554-5144 Tom.Ammiano@sfgov.org
Supervisor Jake McGoldrick (415) 554-7410 jake.mcgoldrick@sfgov.org
Supervisor Bevan Dufty (415) 554-6968 bevan.dufty@sfgov.org
Supervisor Chris Daly (415) 554-7970 chris.daly@sfgov.org
Supervisor Sophie Maxwell (415) 554-7670 sophie.maxwell@sfgov.org
Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi (415) 554-7630 ross.mirkarimi@sfgov.org
Supervisor Aaron Peskin (415) 554-7450 aaron.peskin@sfgov.org
Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval (415) 554-6975 gerardo.sandoval@sfgov.org
Supervisor Fiona Ma (415) 554-7460 fiona.ma@sfgov.org
(Send all letters to City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B Goodlett Place Room 244, San Francisco94102)
http://espu-ca.org/initiative.html
7 Reasons to Donate:
• Stop law enforcement agencies from profiting off the criminalization of prostitution by spending 7.6 million on enforcing the prostitution laws.
• Stop the immoral practice of arresting workers before they receive services.
• Stop the deportation of migrant workers.
• Stop the poverty pimping of sex industry worker by healthcare providers who profit off the criminalization of prostitution by giving out condoms and counseling.
• Stop the poverty pimping of the sex industry worker by social service providers who haven’t helped us get our right to negotiate for our wages and work conditions?
• It’s an important way to participate in this community beneficial cause.
• By contributing to the petition you get to be part of the solution to end violence against sex workers.
• Fight back against the century long oppression against most revered workers on the planet. Get the government out of our underwear
Donate on line
http://espu-ca.org/initiative.html
Or
Make Checks or money orders payable to ESPU
Mail checks to ESPU
c/o San Francisco Labor Council
1188 Franklin # 203
San Francisco, Ca
94109-685209-6852
The actual PETITION
Section 1. Findings
The people of the City and County of San Francisco hereby find and declare:
The San Francisco Task Force on Prostitution was created by the Board of Supervisors in 1996.
San Francisco allocates $7.6 million annually to law enforcement officials to prosecute prostitution related cases, according to 1996 statistics compiled by the Task Force on Prostitution.
The police department has applied and received additional federal monies in the form of federal grants to racially profile prostitutes for investigation and/or arrest under the guise of rescuing trafficked victims.
The police department targets massage parlor workers and management in numerous sting operations, which result in the loss of economic independence for those workers.
The police department utilizes those same targeted businesses as a means of entertainment for its ranks, as demonstrated in the Bayview Station police videos, made public in December, 2005. This demonstrates a lack of respect for their human dignity, freedom of choice, and labor rights.
The San Francisco police department and the San Francisco District Attorneys office has completely ignored dancers in dance clubs who have made written and tape recorded statements on prostitution, sexual assault, rape, and extortion in the form of the ‘pay everyday to work’ program.
The San Francisco District Attorneys Office has demonstrated unequal prosecution of the laws regarding prostitution related activity, in that street-based, home-based, massage parlor and out call escort workers are prosecuted to the full extent of the law leading to either the issuance of citations or arrest, yet dance clubs workers and managers are not
prosecuted within the full extent of the law when issued citations or arrested. This policy reflects the long standing “Cronyism” between dance club owner/operators and key decision makers.
Article XI of the California Constitution provides Charter created counties with “home rule” powers, allowing counties to enact laws that exclusively apply to residents within their borders, even when such a law conflicts with state law or when state law is silent. San Francisco adopted its most recent comprehensive Charter revision in 1996.
Section 2. Requiring the San Francisco Police Department and San Francisco County Office of the District Attorney to enforce existing laws regardless of the victim’s sex worker status.
The San Francisco Police Department, the Office of the District Attorney, and associated law enforcement agencies shall be required to practice consistent and rigorous enforcement against coercion, extortion, battery, rape and other violent crimes, regardless of the victim's status as a sex worker.
The San Francisco Police Department and the Office of the District Attorney shall be required to practice full disclosure in the investigation and prosecution of charges of rape, extortion, sexual assault, and battery against sex workers, exotic dancers or erotic service providers.
Section 3. Requiring the San Francisco Police Department to not use public resources for the purpose of depriving another group of workers their right to negotiate for fair wages and work conditions, regardless of their status as sex workers.
Law enforcement agencies shall not allocate any resources for the investigation and prosecution of prostitutes for prostitution.
San Francisco’s law enforcement agencies shall not apply, nor receive federal and state monies that institute racial profiling as a means of targeting alleged trafficked victims under the guise of enforcing the abatement of prostitution laws. Those funds shall instead be reallocated toward the implementation of the recommendations of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors’ 1996 San Francisco Task Force on Prostitution Report and Human Rights Commission, which address the issue, and recommend policies to reduce, institutional violence and discrimination against prostitutes.
Section 4. Prostitution Shall Be Decriminalized.
The San Francisco Police Department, San Francisco County Office of the District Attorney, the SAGE Project, Inc., nor any other agency of the City and County of San Francisco or their designates, shall not subject sex-workers to life long economic discrimination associated with having a criminal record. The City and County of San Francisco shall not support either economically or through legislation the “First Offenders” program or any similar intentioned program that forces sex workers into re-education programs. Furthermore, the City and County of San Francisco, its agencies, departments, representatives and their designates shall not profit from the criminalization of prostitution, or from anti-prostitution programs such as the “First Offender” program where costs are assessed and collected, then split by the participating agencies.
Section 5. Effective Date.
This ordinance shall become effective on January 1, 2007
Section 6. Severability.
If any provision of this ordinance or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid or unconstitutional, such invalidity or unconstitutionality shall not affect other provisions or applications of this ordinance which can be given effect without the invalid or unconstitutional provision or application. To this end, the provisions of this ordinance shall be deemed severable.
Section 7. Amendment.
By a two-thirds vote and upon making findings, the Board of Supervisors may amend this ordinance in the furtherance of reducing the criminalization and violence against sex-workers.
Sunday, March 26, 2006
The Initiative, Title and Summary from the City Attonrey's Office
NON-ENFORCEMENT OF PROSTITUTION LAWS AND PROTECTION OF SEX WORKERS; ORDINANCE
State and local law prohibition prostitution Section 653.22 of the California Penal Code makes it unlawful for any person to engage in prostitution. Section 240 of the San Francisco Police Code makes it a misdemeanor for any person to commit any act of prostitution.
In 1994, the Board of Supervisors established the 28-member San Francisco Task Force on Prostitution to investigate prostitution patterns and practices in the City and to recommend social and legal reforms. In 1996, the task force issued a report making various recommendations, including a recommendation that City departments stop enforcing and prosecuting prostitution crimes and focus instead on neighborhood complaints about quality of life issues. It also recommended that funds be reallocated towards services for those involved in prostitution instead of incarceration.
The City currently operates a First Offender Prostitution Program. The purpose of this program is to prevent sexual exploitation and violence against prostitutes _by providing educational and other social support services to first-time offenders. Various City departments participate, including the Police Department, the District Attorney's Office, the Public Defender's Office, the Department of Public Health, the Probation Department, and the Sheriffs Office.
The proposed ordinance would restrict the City from allocating resources for the investigation and prosecution of prostitutes, and from supporting the First Offender Prostitution Program or similar programs that include sex-worker education programs. It would also prohibit the City's law enforcement agencies from applying for state or federal funds for programs that require the use of racial profiling to identify sex-trafficked victims, and would require the City to reallocate existing funds for such purposes towards implementation of the 1996 Report of the San Francisco Task Force on Prostitution.
The proposed ordinance would require the Police Department and the District Attorney to consistently and rigorously prosecute certain violent crimes against sex workers. It would also require these agencies to fully disclose the investigation and prosecution of rape, extortion, and sexual assault and battery against sex workers.
The Board of Supervisors could amend this ordinance under certain circumstances without voter approval.
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