Senator Renee Unterman (R-Buford) has introduced a bill to decriminalize underage prostitution. Only the minor’s act is decriminalized however, as another code section is added to the
Sexual Offenses chapter of the Ga Criminal Code that basically says that even if the child you did this act with/to/against was too young to be prosecuted, you can still be prosecuted for whatever you did. Similar clauses are added in other areas where sexual exploitation is mentioned in OCGA.
I disagree with Senator Unterman’s ultimate intentions here, as she describes in this AJC article, but I do like what she is doing. Senator Unterman wants to take these minors out of a jail cell and put them in a treatment room – still under government supervision, and still being held against their will, and now with the added burden of being “re-educated” according to what the government wants these kids to do.
Of course, none of this “treatment” is mentioned in the actual language of the bill, that was simply what Unterman told the AJC. No, all the bill does is decriminalize prostitution for anyone under the age of 16. I would be in favor of this proposal even if I wasn’t in favor of repealing all laws that criminalize consensual sexual behavior (which I am), and here’s why:
The legal age of consent in Georgia is 16. Anyone younger than that age, even by a minute, cannot legally give consent to sex in this State. How then can someone under that age give consent to exchange sex for money or goods, when they cannot give consent in the first place? The act of having sex with anyone under 16 is already illegal, and there is no need for an additional law further criminalizing the act based on other factors such as possibility of payment.
In this regard, it is much the same situation as we are also fighting with the proposed texting and cell phone bans – there are already laws on the books that deal with the situation, why does there need to be additional laws further criminalizing that which is already criminal?
This bill is admittedly going to be a tough sale during an election year – indeed, the Talibaptists are already planning a protest of this bill on the Capitol steps this coming Weds.
Let’s ignore the Talibaptists and get this bill passed this year, and let’s stop making criminals out of people who cannot legally consent to the basic action we are making them a criminal over.
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Decriminalizing Prostitution? In Georgia? Well… Sorta
Senator Renee Unterman (R-Buford) has introduced a bill to decriminalize underage prostitution. Only the minor’s act is decriminalized however, as another code section is added to the
Sexual Offenses chapter of the Ga Criminal Code that basically says that even if the child you did this act with/to/against was too young to be prosecuted, you can still be prosecuted for whatever you did. Similar clauses are added in other areas where sexual exploitation is mentioned in OCGA.
I disagree with Senator Unterman’s ultimate intentions here, as she describes in this AJC article, but I do like what she is doing. Senator Unterman wants to take these minors out of a jail cell and put them in a treatment room – still under government supervision, and still being held against their will, and now with the added burden of being “re-educated” according to what the government wants these kids to do.
Of course, none of this “treatment” is mentioned in the actual language of the bill, that was simply what Unterman told the AJC. No, all the bill does is decriminalize prostitution for anyone under the age of 16. I would be in favor of this proposal even if I wasn’t in favor of repealing all laws that criminalize consensual sexual behavior (which I am), and here’s why:
The legal age of consent in Georgia is 16. Anyone younger than that age, even by a minute, cannot legally give consent to sex in this State. How then can someone under that age give consent to exchange sex for money or goods, when they cannot give consent in the first place? The act of having sex with anyone under 16 is already illegal, and there is no need for an additional law further criminalizing the act based on other factors such as possibility of payment.
In this regard, it is much the same situation as we are also fighting with the proposed texting and cell phone bans – there are already laws on the books that deal with the situation, why does there need to be additional laws further criminalizing that which is already criminal?
This bill is admittedly going to be a tough sale during an election year – indeed, the Talibaptists are already planning a protest of this bill on the Capitol steps this coming Weds.
Let’s ignore the Talibaptists and get this bill passed this year, and let’s stop making criminals out of people who cannot legally consent to the basic action we are making them a criminal over.