Full Text of HB1299 94th General Assembly
HB1299sam002 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
|
Sen. Iris Y. Martinez
Filed: 2/9/2006
|
|
09400HB1299sam002 |
|
LRB094 09423 LCT 55262 a |
|
| 1 |
| AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 1299
| 2 |
| AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 1299 by replacing | 3 |
| everything after the enacting clause with the following:
| 4 |
| "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 5 |
| Predator Accountability Act. | 6 |
| Section 5. Findings. The General Assembly finds: | 7 |
| (1) The United Nations Convention of December 2, 1949 | 8 |
| proclaims that prostitution and trafficking are | 9 |
| "incompatible with the dignity and worth of the human | 10 |
| person and endanger the welfare of the individual, the | 11 |
| family and the community". Sex trade activities and sex | 12 |
| trafficking are supported by inequality and oppression | 13 |
| based on gender, race, socioeconomic status, sexual | 14 |
| orientation, and age. The sex trade and sex trafficking | 15 |
| disproportionately affect women and children, particularly | 16 |
| women of color. Men are also trafficked and exploited in | 17 |
| the sex trade.
| 18 |
| (2) Regardless of the specific pathway the women took | 19 |
| to prostitution, their initial experiences could not have | 20 |
| occurred in the absence of an environment that was | 21 |
| "supportive" of their prostitution activities, as well as | 22 |
| partners who were willing to pay for sex. Research and | 23 |
| evidence suggests that the sex trade is inherently | 24 |
| coercive, abusive, and exploitative.
|
|
|
|
09400HB1299sam002 |
- 2 - |
LRB094 09423 LCT 55262 a |
|
| 1 |
| (3) Individuals, organizations, and entities often | 2 |
| recruit and maintain persons, largely women and girls, into | 3 |
| the sex trade through predatory behaviors including | 4 |
| coercion, violence, abuse, and exploitation. Individuals, | 5 |
| organizations, and entities often use such predatory | 6 |
| tactics to maximize profit from persons' sex trade | 7 |
| activity.
| 8 |
| (4) These practices often cause severe trauma and | 9 |
| long-term physical, emotional, and psychological damage. | 10 |
| Often, individuals enter sex trade related activities | 11 |
| prior to age 18, are homeless or runaways, victims of | 12 |
| childhood sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, and have | 13 |
| mental health or substance abuse issues. Many adult persons | 14 |
| in the sex trade are victimized by many forms of violence | 15 |
| and abuse while in the sex trade. This violence is often | 16 |
| perpetrated to maintain their participation in the sex | 17 |
| trade.
| 18 |
| (5) Many persons, organizations, and entities that | 19 |
| subject individuals to or maintain them in the sex trade | 20 |
| are not held accountable by the criminal justice system. In | 21 |
| some parts of the State, less than 1% of all prostitution | 22 |
| related arrests are for pimps or panderers.
| 23 |
| (6) This Act allows persons who have been or are | 24 |
| subjected to the sex trade to seek civil damages and | 25 |
| remedies from individuals and entities that recruited, | 26 |
| harmed, profited from, or maintained them in the sex trade.
| 27 |
| Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act: | 28 |
| "Sex trade" means any act in violation of: any of the | 29 |
| following Sections of the Criminal Code of 1961: 11-15 | 30 |
| (soliciting for a prostitute); 11-15.1 (soliciting for a | 31 |
| juvenile prostitute); 11-16 (pandering); 11-17 (keeping a | 32 |
| place of prostitution); 11-17.1 (keeping a place of juvenile | 33 |
| prostitution); 11-19 (pimping); 11-19.1 (juvenile pimping and |
|
|
|
09400HB1299sam002 |
- 3 - |
LRB094 09423 LCT 55262 a |
|
| 1 |
| aggravated juvenile pimping); 11-19.2 (exploitation of a | 2 |
| child); 11-20 (obscenity); or 11-20.1 (child pornography); or | 3 |
| Article 10A of the Criminal Code of 1961 (trafficking of | 4 |
| persons and involuntary servitude). | 5 |
| "Sex trade" activity may involve adults and youth of all | 6 |
| genders and sexual orientations.
| 7 |
| "Victim of the sex trade" means a person from whom sexual | 8 |
| acts are obtained or expected in exchange for anything of | 9 |
| value, such as a prostitute, a juvenile prostitute, or a person | 10 |
| whose image or likeness is used in any sex trade activity. | 11 |
| Section 15. Cause of action. | 12 |
| (a) Violations of this Act are actionable in civil court. | 13 |
| (b) A victim of the sex trade has a cause of action against | 14 |
| a person or entity who: | 15 |
| (1) engages in sex trade; or | 16 |
| (2) advertises or publishes advertisements for | 17 |
| purposes of recruitment into sex trade activity. | 18 |
| (c) A separate action may be brought under this Act against | 19 |
| any individual who has engaged in retaliation against: (1) any | 20 |
| victim of the sex trade in a proceeding under this Act; (2) any | 21 |
| member of the family of a victim of the sex trade; (3) any | 22 |
| person who in good faith has opposed anything that he or she | 23 |
| reasonably believed to be a violation of this Act; or (4) any | 24 |
| person who has filed a complaint, testified, assisted, or | 25 |
| participated in a proceeding pursuant to this Act. | 26 |
| Section 20. Relief. | 27 |
| (a) A prevailing victim of the sex trade shall be entitled | 28 |
| to all relief that would make him or her whole. This includes, | 29 |
| but is not limited to: | 30 |
| (1) declaratory relief;
| 31 |
| (2) injunctive relief;
| 32 |
| (3) recovery of costs and attorney fees including, but |
|
|
|
09400HB1299sam002 |
- 4 - |
LRB094 09423 LCT 55262 a |
|
| 1 |
| not limited to, costs for expert testimony and witness | 2 |
| fees; | 3 |
| (4) compensatory damages including, but not limited | 4 |
| to: | 5 |
| (A) economic loss, including damage, destruction, | 6 |
| or loss of use of personal property, and loss of past | 7 |
| or future earning capacity; and | 8 |
| (B) damages for death, personal injury, disease, | 9 |
| and mental and emotional harm, including medical, | 10 |
| rehabilitation, burial expenses, pain and suffering, | 11 |
| and physical impairment; | 12 |
| (5) punitive damages; and | 13 |
| (6) additional restitution, which shall be calculated | 14 |
| based upon the gross proceeds received, if any, by the | 15 |
| defendant as a result of his or her criminal offense, but | 16 |
| shall not represent wage payment for sexual services. | 17 |
| Section 25. Non-defenses. | 18 |
| (a) It is not a defense to an action brought under this Act | 19 |
| that: | 20 |
| (1) the victim of the sex trade and the defendant had a | 21 |
| marital or consenting sexual relationship;
| 22 |
| (2) the defendant is related to the victim of the sex | 23 |
| trade by blood or marriage, or has lived with the defendant | 24 |
| in any formal or informal household arrangement;
| 25 |
| (3) the victim of the sex trade was paid or otherwise | 26 |
| compensated for sex trade activity;
| 27 |
| (4) the victim of the sex trade engaged in sex trade | 28 |
| activity prior to any involvement with the defendant;
| 29 |
| (5) the victim of the sex trade made no attempt to | 30 |
| escape, flee, or otherwise terminate contact with the | 31 |
| defendant;
| 32 |
| (6) the victim of the sex trade consented to engage in | 33 |
| acts of the sex trade;
|
|
|
|
09400HB1299sam002 |
- 5 - |
LRB094 09423 LCT 55262 a |
|
| 1 |
| (7) it was a single incident of activity;
or | 2 |
| (8) there was no physical contact involved. | 3 |
| (b) Any illegality of the sex trade activity on the part of | 4 |
| the victim of the sex trade shall not be an affirmative defense | 5 |
| to any action brought under this Act. | 6 |
| Section 30. Evidence. In the course of litigation under | 7 |
| this Act, any transaction about which a victim of the sex trade | 8 |
| testifies or produces evidence does not subject him or her to | 9 |
| criminal prosecution or any penalty or forfeiture. Any | 10 |
| testimony or evidence, documentary or otherwise, or | 11 |
| information directly or indirectly derived from that testimony | 12 |
| or evidence that is given or produced by a victim of the sex | 13 |
| trade or a witness for a victim of the sex trade may not be used | 14 |
| against that person in any other investigation or proceeding | 15 |
| other than a criminal investigation or proceeding for perjury | 16 |
| committed while giving the testimony or producing the evidence. | 17 |
| Section 35. Statute of limitations. | 18 |
| (a) An action for damages must be commenced within 10 years | 19 |
| of the time the victim of the sex trade knew and fully | 20 |
| understood that: | 21 |
| (1) she or he had been injured; and | 22 |
| (2) the injury was caused by conduct of the defendant | 23 |
| described in this Act.
| 24 |
| (b) The court shall toll the limitations period upon a | 25 |
| showing that the victim of the sex trade was or is unable, due | 26 |
| to sex trade-related injury, to commence the action within the | 27 |
| limitations period. The injury may be psychological and need | 28 |
| not be traceable to any action by the defendant. A victim of | 29 |
| the sex trade may not be compelled to personally appear to | 30 |
| attest to these facts. Affidavits from the victim of the sex | 31 |
| trade and his or her doctor stating the required facts are | 32 |
| sufficient to constitute a showing as required by this |
|
|
|
09400HB1299sam002 |
- 6 - |
LRB094 09423 LCT 55262 a |
|
| 1 |
| subsection.
| 2 |
| (c) The court shall toll the limitations period upon a | 3 |
| showing that despite reasonable efforts, the victim of the sex | 4 |
| trade was unable to ascertain the identity, true name, or | 5 |
| location of the defendant during the limitations period. In | 6 |
| determining whether the victim of the sex trade's efforts were | 7 |
| reasonable, the court shall consider the totality of the victim | 8 |
| of the sex trade's circumstances during the limitations period, | 9 |
| including the victim of the sex trade's emotional condition, | 10 |
| financial resources, freedom of movement and communication, | 11 |
| and reasonable fear of the defendant for self or others. | 12 |
| (d) The court shall toll the limitations period upon a | 13 |
| showing that the defendant in any way inhibited the victim of | 14 |
| the sex trade's understanding of the right to pursue the cause | 15 |
| of action or the victim of the sex trade's ability to pursue | 16 |
| the cause of action. Behavior constituting inhibition | 17 |
| includes, but is not limited to: | 18 |
| (l) minimizing by words or deeds the harm inflicted | 19 |
| upon the victim of the sex trade;
| 20 |
| (2) isolating the victim of the sex trade from access | 21 |
| to legal representation;
| 22 |
| (3) threatening the victim of the sex trade with | 23 |
| retaliation for pursuing the claim; or
| 24 |
| (4) misrepresenting the injury as the fault of the | 25 |
| victim of the sex trade rather than the fault of the
| 26 |
| abuser.
| 27 |
| (e) There is no limitation of time on actions for | 28 |
| declaratory or injunctive relief under this Act.
| 29 |
| (f) If the person entitled to bring the action was a minor | 30 |
| at the time the cause of action accrued, upon turning 18, the | 31 |
| action must be commenced within the time period described in | 32 |
| subsection (a) of this Section. | 33 |
| Section 40. Remedies preserved. This Act does not affect |
|
|
|
09400HB1299sam002 |
- 7 - |
LRB094 09423 LCT 55262 a |
|
| 1 |
| the right of any person to bring an action or use any remedy | 2 |
| available under other law, including common law, to recover | 3 |
| damages arising out of the use of the victim of the sex trade | 4 |
| in the sex trade nor does this Act limit or restrict the | 5 |
| liability of any person under other law. This Act does not | 6 |
| reflect a determination of a policy regarding the applicability | 7 |
| of strict liability to activities relating to the sex trade. | 8 |
| Section 45. Double recovery prohibited. Any person who | 9 |
| recovers damages under this Act may not recover the same costs | 10 |
| or damages under any other Act. A person who recovers damages | 11 |
| under any other Act may not recover for the same costs or | 12 |
| damages under this Act.
| 13 |
| Section 50. No avoidance of liability. No person may avoid | 14 |
| liability under this Act by means of any conveyance of any | 15 |
| right, title, or interest in real property, or by any | 16 |
| indemnification, hold harmless agreement, or similar agreement | 17 |
| that purports to show consent of the victim of the sex trade. | 18 |
| Section 55. Severability. If any provision of this Act or | 19 |
| its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, | 20 |
| the invalidity of that provision or its application does not | 21 |
| affect other provisions or application of this Act that can be | 22 |
| given effect without the invalid provision or application.
| 23 |
| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 24 |
| becoming law.".
|
|