BILL NUMBER: S4396
SPONSOR: SALAZAR
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the penal law, in relation to decriminalizing sex work;
and to repeal certain provisions of such law relating to prostitution
(Part A); to amend the criminal procedure law and the civil practice law
and rules, in relation to eliminating prior criminal records and making
other related changes; and to repeal certain provisions of the criminal
procedure law relating to the prosecution of prostitution offenses (Part
B); and to amend the multiple dwelling law, the public health law, the
real property actions and proceedings law, the real property law, the
vehicle and traffic law, and the administrative code of the city of New
York, in relation to making conforming changes (Part C)
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To repeal statutes that criminalize sex work between consenting adults,
but keep laws relating to minors or trafficking, and to provide for
criminal record relief for people convicted of crimes repealed under
this bill.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Part A repeals and amends parts of Penal Law Article 230 that make sex
work between consenting adults illegal.
All existing statutory provisions that prohibit sex work involving
minors, force, intimidation, coercion, and trafficking remain in effect.
This bill does not repeal any of these provisions.
Part B repeals and amends parts of the Criminal Procedure Law and Civil
Practice Law and Rules to provide for criminal record relief for indi-
viduals previously convicted of crimes that are repealed under this
bill.
Part C repeals and amends parts of the Multiple Dwelling Law, Public
Health Law, Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law, Real Property
Law, Vehicle and Traffic Law, and the Administrative Code of the City of
New York to make conforming changes and clarifications.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
New York state law contains over a dozen criminal and civil provisions
that punish adults who consent to sell or buy sex, as well as those who
help and depend on them, not to mention the numerous prohibitions and
punishments for prostitution in a wide variety of laws. Trying to stop
sex work between consenting adults should not be the business of our
criminal justice system. Criminalizing sex work criminalizes a means of
survival for marginalized people, and it makes LGBTQ people especially
vulnerable to police harassment and arrest based on their gender
expression and sexuality.
Research on the impact of full decriminalization of sex work in New
Zealand and New South Wales, Australia has found:
-90 percent of sex workers believe decriminalization gave them more
employment, legal, and health rights.
-60 percent of sex workers stated they were better able to screen and
refuse potentially dangerous clients.
-73 percent of sex workers entered the industry to pay for household
expenses, while another 82 percent stayed in the industry for the same
reason.
-Sex workers also have greater access to and use of condoms.
Criminalization drives sex work into the shadows in an underground ille-
gal environment where sex workers face increased violence, abuse, and
exploitation, and are more vulnerable to trafficking. Though anti-sex
work laws may have originally been conceived as a protection of socie-
ty's morals and perhaps even women, these laws now criminalize women and
LGBTQ people for acts of survival and resistance to the force of econom-
ic insecurity. Decriminalizing sex work upholds the rights of those who
trade sex, reduces violence and trafficking, and increases labor
protections.
France's 2016 implementation of "End Demand" (also referred to as the
Nordic model) re-defined the criminalization of sex work so as to end
the arrests and prosecutions of sex workers, but also maintained all
penalties for patronizing or "promoting" sex work. As a result, research
shows that:
-63 percent of sex workers reported worse living condition
-42 percent reported increased workplace violence
-38 percent reported increased difficulty negotiating condom use with
clients
This model is not as effective as decriminalization and does not provide
safer conditions for those involved.
Decriminalization of sex work is supported by the World Health Organiza-
tion, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Global Alliance
Against Trafficking in Women, Lambda Legal, the ACLU, GMHC, the NYC
Anti-Violence Project, Make the Road NY, NYCLU, the Association of Legal
Aid Attorneys, the Urban justice Center, Womankind, VOCAL-NY, Center for
Constitutional Rights, Center for HIV Law and Policy, UNAIDS, Housing
Works, Scientists for Sex Worker Rights, Sylvia Rivera Law Project, and
a growing list of other organizations.
This bill does not alter the criminal and civil legal provisions under
which individuals who engage in trafficking, coercion, sexual abuse,
abuse of minors, or rape may be prosecuted. In fact, when the law
differentiates between sex work between consenting adults and situations
where a party does not consent or that involve minors, sex workers will
have an increased ability to report abuse, rape, theft, and other crimes
perpetrated against them that today go ignored and are exacerbated by
law enforcement activity.
The bill allows individuals who have been previously convicted of
offenses that are repealed in this bill to vacate those judgments of
conviction.
This will enable them to access housing, health, and economic resources
that are currently off-limits to them because of their criminal records.
Record relief will also allow people to transition into other employment
if they choose, without the stigma and harassment that often follows
from having a criminal record with prostitution convictions.
The decriminalization of sex work in New Zealand shows us that criminal-
izing sex work between consenting adults does not end the demand for sex
work, and it certainly does not improve the lives of people who partic-
ipate in the sex trades by choice, circumstance, or coercion, or people
who are profiled as sex workers. Instead of treating all people in the
sex trades as criminals, victims, or both, it is time to create a more
nuanced legal approach to the sex trades. Sex workers want decriminali-
zation so they can work in a legal environment, work without fear of the
police, report any violence they experience, and report trafficking when
it affects their peers. It is time to put people before antiquated
moral judgments.
 
SOCIAL JUSTICE IMPACT:
This legislation would further advance the human rights of sex workers
who are doing what they can to make an income to support themselves and
their families. This legislation would humanize sex workers who deserve
to work in a safe, secure, and clean environment without fear of judge-
ment or arrest. The existing laws create crimes that primarily victimize
women and LGBTQ+ individuals, particularly women and LGBTQ+ individuals
of color, those that are in poverty, and immigrants. The advocacy group,
Survivors Against SESTA, says:
"For an issue which encompasses issues of economic justice, labor,
criminalization and policing, sexuality, racial justice, immigration,
gender identity, and complex other frameworks, sex worker rights can be
a lynchpin issue impacting the most marginalized in our communi-
ties.Caring about LGBTQ survival means caring about the lives, health
and safety of sex workers"
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
SENATE: 2021-22 - S 3075 (Salazar) Referred to Codes in 2021 and 2022.
2019-20 - S 6419 (Salazar) Referred to Rules in 2019, referred to Codes
in 2020.
ASSEMBLY:
2021-22 - A849 (Gottfried) - Referred to Codes.
2019-20 - A8230 (Gottfried)- Referred to Codes.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
No negative fiscal implications. This bill, by eliminating arrests,
prosecutions, and incarceration of sex workers or alleged sex workers
would result in significant fiscal savings for local and state govern-
ment.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect thirty days after it becomes law, though each
Part contains an effective date applicable to that Part - Part A imme-
diately, Part B and C 30 days after enactment.

Statutes affected:
S4396: 230.00 penal law, 230.01 penal law, 230.02 penal law, 230.03 penal law, 230.15 penal law, 230.30 penal law, 230.33 penal law, 230.34 penal law, 230.34-a penal law, 230.35 penal law, 230.40 penal law, 160.50 criminal procedure law, 1310 civil practice law, 1310(5) civil practice law, 60.47 criminal procedure law, 170.30 criminal procedure law, 170.30(4) criminal procedure law, 420.35 criminal procedure law, 420.35(2) criminal procedure law, 720.35 criminal procedure law, 720.35(1) criminal procedure law, 2320 public health law, 231 real property law, 231(3) real property law, 233 real property law, 233(b) real property law