9th Circuit hears appeal of Nevada prostitution lawsuit
12/10/2020 - A three-member panel of judges from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals this week took the briefing under submission for decision in the case of Rebekah Charleston v. State of Nevada.
The appeal is from the dismissal of an action filed by Rebekah Charleston that legal prostitution in certain Nevada counties creates conditions that enable slavery, specifically in the form of sex trafficking and involuntary sexual servitude, and is therefore in violation of the 13th Amendment.
“Most Nevadans turn a blind eye to prostitution, assuming that because it’s legal in some counties, it must be safe,” said Charleston. “Yet, that does not reflect what my reality was. In the post #MeToo era, it’s high time Nevada takes a long hard look at its laws that allow the practice of prostitution. Study after study has shown that legal prostitution encourages illegal prostitution, and therefore human trafficking. Nevada is the only state in the country where prostitution is legal. We must take measures to end the significant human suffering and harm created by both the legal and illegal sex trade in our state.”
According to Jason Guinasso, Esq., a Reno-based attorney with the law firm of Hutchison Steffen who represents plaintiffs said that Nevada laws, which enable sex and labor trafficking (slavery), are and have been unconstitutional, citing the 13th Amendment of the United States Constitution that states, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” Guinasso said that based on the text of the U.S. Constitution, Nevada is currently violating the 13th Amendment by creating conditions that enable slavery in the form of sex trafficking and involuntary sexual servitude. “When anyone, including the State, deliberately creates conditions for slavery, they violate the 13th Amendment,” he said.
Additionally, the lawsuit also requests an order for the State to create and fund a “Nevada Sex Trade Exit Fund” to provide mental health services, rent assistance, job training, scholarships, and funding for medical treatments for women working as prostitutes within Nevada’s legal brothels. The complaint specifically argues, “The State’s creation of an intrastate commercialized prostitution market exerts a substantial economic effect, namely, the creation of an interstate and foreign prostitution market; therefore, Nevada’s legal brothels, are in violation of and direct conflict with federal statutes prohibiting coercion and enticement.
Numerous studies have shown prostitution and sex trafficking are inextricably linked and wherever legal prostitution exists, sex trafficking increases. As a result, Nevada’s illegal sex trade is estimated to be twice as large as other states and its commercial sex market, when adjusted for population, is by far the largest of any state.
More at https://elkodaily.com/opinion/colum...cle_7bb47bfd-81f1-5b1b-bfd6-7e396c273561.html
12/10/2020 - A three-member panel of judges from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals this week took the briefing under submission for decision in the case of Rebekah Charleston v. State of Nevada.
The appeal is from the dismissal of an action filed by Rebekah Charleston that legal prostitution in certain Nevada counties creates conditions that enable slavery, specifically in the form of sex trafficking and involuntary sexual servitude, and is therefore in violation of the 13th Amendment.
“Most Nevadans turn a blind eye to prostitution, assuming that because it’s legal in some counties, it must be safe,” said Charleston. “Yet, that does not reflect what my reality was. In the post #MeToo era, it’s high time Nevada takes a long hard look at its laws that allow the practice of prostitution. Study after study has shown that legal prostitution encourages illegal prostitution, and therefore human trafficking. Nevada is the only state in the country where prostitution is legal. We must take measures to end the significant human suffering and harm created by both the legal and illegal sex trade in our state.”
According to Jason Guinasso, Esq., a Reno-based attorney with the law firm of Hutchison Steffen who represents plaintiffs said that Nevada laws, which enable sex and labor trafficking (slavery), are and have been unconstitutional, citing the 13th Amendment of the United States Constitution that states, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” Guinasso said that based on the text of the U.S. Constitution, Nevada is currently violating the 13th Amendment by creating conditions that enable slavery in the form of sex trafficking and involuntary sexual servitude. “When anyone, including the State, deliberately creates conditions for slavery, they violate the 13th Amendment,” he said.
Additionally, the lawsuit also requests an order for the State to create and fund a “Nevada Sex Trade Exit Fund” to provide mental health services, rent assistance, job training, scholarships, and funding for medical treatments for women working as prostitutes within Nevada’s legal brothels. The complaint specifically argues, “The State’s creation of an intrastate commercialized prostitution market exerts a substantial economic effect, namely, the creation of an interstate and foreign prostitution market; therefore, Nevada’s legal brothels, are in violation of and direct conflict with federal statutes prohibiting coercion and enticement.
Numerous studies have shown prostitution and sex trafficking are inextricably linked and wherever legal prostitution exists, sex trafficking increases. As a result, Nevada’s illegal sex trade is estimated to be twice as large as other states and its commercial sex market, when adjusted for population, is by far the largest of any state.
More at https://elkodaily.com/opinion/colum...cle_7bb47bfd-81f1-5b1b-bfd6-7e396c273561.html
