Gov. Linda Lingle<\/a> on Tuesday vetoed Senate Bill 2045<\/a>, legislation aimed at handling human trafficking offenses in Hawaii. The decision means the state remains one of just six states without any laws designed specifically to fight human trafficking<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The veto came amid heated debate between activists and public servants over whether the measure was an essential first step toward better addressing the local trafficking problem, or whether it would have made prosecuting suspected pimps, johns and others involved in trafficking to justice more difficult.<\/p>\n

Law enforcement and prosecutors widely spoke out<\/a> against the bill, which they said contained overly broad language that criminalized some legal activities and lumped together offenses that now elicit separate charges, making trafficking cases harder to prosecute by requiring multiple criteria in order to win convictions. Despite frustration about the veto, the bill\u2019s drafters cited some gains. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t really feel that this year has been a loss,\u201d said one of the bill\u2019s drafters, Kathryn Xian, co-founder of the Pacific Alliance to Stop Slavery, or PASS, and a long-present and divisive voice in the debate over how to handle human trafficking in the islands. \u201cWe feel that the level of awareness of what\u2019s going on with the legislature has galvanized people, both locally and nationally. Next, we\u2019ll work to identify our allies, get our bill back on the agenda and then start the whole advocacy process. The most important thing right now is to take care of the survivors we do have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Supporters of the bill, including an editorial writer<\/a> at the Los Angeles Times, say its veto represents a gap in national security, and makes Hawaii an outlier.<\/p>\n

The bill’s defeat comes in stark contrast to its unanimous passage by state lawmakers, though some of those lawmakers have since said they didn\u2019t believe<\/a> the law would have been effective.<\/p>\n

The governor\u2019s explanation for vetoing SB 2045 echoes testimony against the bill from the offices of the public defender, Hawaii Attorney General Mark Bennett and Honolulu city prosecutor Peter Carlisle<\/a>. When Lingle added the bill to her list of possible veto items<\/a> on June 21, she explained her reasoning for doing so was that the law \u201cdoes not clearly define the prohibited conduct in a way that can be enforced and prosecuted in court.\u201d<\/p>\n

Representatives for the city prosecutor’s office said that although they opposed SB 2045, they are committed to working toward a solution. <\/p>\n

“There were fundamental disagreements in how to accomplish, at least, the legislative piece of it,” said Dennis Dunn, director of the Victim Witness Kokua Services division in the Honolulu Department of the Prosecuting Attorney. “But I think most people felt like we were working together.” 1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Supporters of SB 2045 argued that prosecutors would have still been able to charge a suspect with the kinds of offenses \u2014 kidnapping, domestic abuse, assault \u2014 that they use to convict pimps today. The vetoed measure would have given prosecutors the additional ability to charge pimps with a Class A felony human trafficking offense. The bill’s proponents also said that creating a criminal statute for human trafficking isn\u2019t just aimed at creating tougher penalties for pimps, but at beginning to identify victims in a way that would help them escape some of the social stigmas about prostitution.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe police would have to start identifying them and marking them as human trafficking victims instead of prostitutes, delinquents or runaways,\u201d said Xian, who says that such a designation would also help remove jurors bias against prostitutes, who she says are still often seen as criminals rather than as victims. \u201cWithout [that designation], they\u2019re never going to be able to control or abate the problem because, first of all, you\u2019re going to have a bunch of prostitutes come in your door who look nothing like domestic assault or domestic violence victims, and they\u2019re going to run from you because not only are they criminals by law enforcement standards, but pimps come after them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bill\u2019s critics argue that it would be foolish for the state to enact any human trafficking legislation that doesn\u2019t guarantee widespread social services offered to victims. But some of those same people also say it would be impossible to pass legislation requiring funding for services during recession, when the state\u2019s purse strings are so tight. But advocates insist that legislative leaders are tasked first with protecting their citizens they represent, and that necessary funding would follow.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there\u2019s a problem, you address it, because that\u2019s what we are sworn to do,\u201d said Xian. \u201cThe money and resources will come.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other cities, convicted johns help finance victims services through fees they pay to participate in required programs known as \u201cjohn schools.\u201d Xian says restitution from convicted pimps would offer an enormous funding source, locally. <\/p>\n

\u201cThese pimps make so much money, they could fund both HPD and all victims services for an entire year,\u201d said Xian. \u201cThey can make between $1,000 and $3,000 on one girl alone, per night, and some of the bigger pimps have up to 30 girls.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMost people think that there\u2019s no problems here,\u201d said Xian. \u201cThey think prostitution is a viable source of income. They don\u2019t see past the high heels and the short skirts.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Senate Bill 2045 would have been the state’s first law criminalizing human trafficking in Hawaii<\/a>. The bill’s drafters have vowed to come back with a stronger bill and more supporters next session. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2782],"tags":[],"post_format":[],"project":[],"coauthors":[1773],"class_list":["post-2579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hawaii-beat"],"slp_mobile_featured_image":null,"acf":[],"slp_coauthors":[{"display_name":"Adrienne LaFrance","user_nicename":"alafrance","author_link":"https:\/\/www.civilbeat.org\/author\/alafrance\/"}],"slp_acf":false,"slp_primary_category":null,"apple_news_notices":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Lingle Vetoes Human Trafficking Bill","url":"http:\/\/www.civilbeat.org\/2010\/07\/2579-lingle-vetoes-human-trafficking-bill\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.civilbeat.org\/2010\/07\/2579-lingle-vetoes-human-trafficking-bill\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":""},"articleSection":"Hawai\u02bbi","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Adrienne LaFrance"}],"creator":["Adrienne LaFrance"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"天美视频","logo":""},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"2010-07-06T20:59:41Z","datePublished":"2010-07-06T20:59:41Z","dateModified":"2010-07-08T02:57:41Z"},"rendered":"