File #: Res 1444-2020    Version: Name: Allow violations for Loitering for the Purpose of Engaging in a Prostitution Offense (PL § 240.37) to be sealed and have the law apply retroactively.
Type: Resolution Status: Adopted
Committee: Committee on Women and Gender Equity
On agenda: 10/15/2020
Enactment date: Law number:
Title: Resolution calling on the New York State Legislature to pass, and the Governor to sign, a bill to amend the criminal procedure law to allow violations for Loitering for the Purpose of Engaging in a Prostitution Offense (PL ? 240.37) to be sealed and have the law apply retroactively.
Sponsors: Carlina Rivera , Helen K. Rosenthal, Ben Kallos, Vanessa L. Gibson, Diana I. Ayala
Council Member Sponsors: 5
Attachments: 1. Res. No. 1444, 2. October 15, 2020 - Stated Meeting Agenda with Links to Files, 3. Hearing Transcript - Stated Meeting 10-15-20, 4. Minutes of the Stated Meeting - October 15, 2020, 5. Committee Report 12/3/20, 6. Hearing Testimony 12/3/20, 7. Hearing Transcript 12/3/20, 8. Proposed Res. No. 1444-A - 12/8/20, 9. Committee Report 12/10/20, 10. Hearing Transcript 12/10/20, 11. December 10, 2020 - Stated Meeting Agenda with Links to Files, 12. Hearing Transcript - Stated Meeting 12-10-20, 13. Minutes of the Stated Meeting - December 10, 2020
Date Ver.Prime SponsorAction ByActionResultAction DetailsMeeting DetailsMultimedia
12/10/2020ACarlina Rivera City Council Approved, by CouncilPass Action details Meeting details Not available
12/10/2020*Carlina Rivera Committee on Women and Gender Equity Hearing Held by Committee  Action details Meeting details Not available
12/10/2020*Carlina Rivera Committee on Women and Gender Equity Amendment Proposed by Comm  Action details Meeting details Not available
12/10/2020*Carlina Rivera Committee on Women and Gender Equity Amended by Committee  Action details Meeting details Not available
12/10/2020ACarlina Rivera Committee on Women and Gender Equity Approved by CommitteePass Action details Meeting details Not available
12/3/2020*Carlina Rivera Committee on Women and Gender Equity Hearing Held by Committee  Action details Meeting details Not available
12/3/2020*Carlina Rivera Committee on Women and Gender Equity Laid Over by Committee  Action details Meeting details Not available
11/30/2020*Carlina Rivera City Council Re-referred to Committee by Council  Action details Meeting details Not available
10/15/2020*Carlina Rivera City Council Referred to Comm by Council  Action details Meeting details Not available
10/15/2020*Carlina Rivera City Council Introduced by Council  Action details Meeting details Not available

Res. No. 1444-A

 

Resolution calling on the New York State Legislature to pass, and the Governor to sign, a bill to amend the criminal procedure law to allow violations for Loitering for the Purpose of Engaging in a Prostitution Offense (PL § 240.37) to be sealed and have the law apply retroactively.

 

By Council Members Rivera, Rosenthal, Kallos, Gibson and Ayala

 

Whereas, Penal Law section 240.37, Loitering for the Purpose of Engaging in a Prostitution Offense, penalizes merely appearing to be engaged in such an offense, an inherently problematic and vague standard that invites discriminatory enforcement; and

Whereas, In fact, the enforcement of this law disproportionately targets Black and Latina women and transgender women of color; and

                     Whereas, Eighty percent of people who were arrested under the law in 2018 were women, and of that, forty-nine percent were Black and forty-two percent were Latina, according to the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services; and

                     Whereas, In 2013 and 2014, the nonprofit organization Red Umbrella Project found that in a Brooklyn court, over ninety percent of defendants charged under the law were Black; and

                     Whereas, Section 240.37 remains in the Penal Law even as Governor Cuomo has publicly supported  repealing this statute; and

                     Whereas, The collateral consequences stemming from an arrest, violation or conviction for criminal offenses are severe; and

                     Whereas, People who are arrested or convicted for Loitering for the Purposes of Engaging in Prostitution can lose their employment and housing; and

                     Whereas, Undocumented individuals who are arrested  or convicted for Loitering for the Purposes of Engaging in Prostitution can be subject to deportation as immigration law disqualifies individuals from adjusting their immigration status if they have been arrested or convicted on a prostitution offense; and

                     Whereas, These collateral consequences overwhelmingly burdens Black and Latina women and transgender women of color as they are disproportionately subjected to enforcement of this problematic statute; and

Whereas, Under Criminal Procedure Law section 160.55, New Yorkers are prohibited from sealing their violations for Loitering for the Purpose of Engaging in a Prostitution Offense; and

Whereas, This is one of only two violations in New York State law that can never seal under the statute; and

Whereas, This prohibition only exacerbates the burdens a violation for Loitering for the Purposes of Engaging in a Prostitution Offense carries; and

Whereas, To reduce some of the needless burdens imposed on New Yorkers with Penal Law 240.37 Offense violations, the New York State Legislature should amend Criminal Procedure Law 160.55 to permit New Yorkers to seal their violations for this offense; and, now therefore, be it

                     Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls on the New York State Legislature to pass, and the Governor to sign, a bill to amend the Criminal Procedure Law  to allow violations for Loitering for the Purpose of Engaging in a Prostitution Offense to be sealed and have the law apply retroactively.

 

KMD

LS15942

9/25/2020

 

CGR

12/7/2020