By Erica C. Barnett

On this week’s edition of Seattle Nice, we discussed (what else?) another law-and-order provision from the new law-and-order City Council: A proposal to bring back two old, long-disused regulations designed to crack down on sex workers and buyers. The first, an old law against “prostitution loitering,” would empower police to detain, search, and arrest people they suspect of being sex workers. (Prostitution itself is illegal but currently has a relatively high burden of proof; the old loitering laws gave cops an easier pretext to arrest sex workers and sex buyers than the stings they currently use.)

The second, related proposal would codify a new Stay Out of Areas of Prostitution area along Aurora Ave. N from N 145th St. all the way down to 85th; judges could issue SOAP orders as a condition on release or during sentencing, and anyone caught violating a SOAP order could be charged with a gross misdemeanor, a more serious crime than prostitution or solicitation. The proposal notes that new SOAP areas could be added in the future, and designates the initial SOAP zone as “SOAP Zone 1.”

Late on Friday, the sponsor of the two proposed new laws, Councilmember Cathy Moore, said she would remove sex workers from the scope of SOAP orders and enforcement, and that after her amendments, the SOAP portion of the proposal would only target sex buyers and pimps.

The underlying prostitution loitering law would remain intact. (Criminalizing men who patronize sex workers is also problematic, and national surveys have suggested that a majority of people support decriminalizing sex work. According to defense attorneys who represent them, the “johns” prosecuted under Seattle’s existing anti-prostitution laws are overwhelmingly men of color, and disproportionately immigrants.)

Sandeep argued that Moore’s proposal is a dramatic improvement over the old prostitution loitering law because it includes a new gross misdemeanor for “promoting loitering for the purposes of prostitution,” which carries a lower burden of proof than the existing law against promoting prostitution, which is a felony. Basically, Sandeep said, the law allows cops to arrest someone who’s “sitting in [a] souped-up Camaro and talking to the girls and exchanging money,” rather than having to meet a higher burden of proof for a felony arrest. I countered that proving someone is a pimp will still require testimony from women who don’t trust police, and who themselves will be targeted under the new prostitution loitering law.

We also talked about (and agreed on!) the need for new services; as the podcast’s resident Debbie Downer, though, I pointed out that Moore’s proposal does not include any new services or specify what kind of services the council would like to provide. Sandeep noted that Moore has committed to funding more services in the upcoming budget, and I responded that it seems unlikely there will be much free money floating around in the budget this year, given that the city is facing a $260 million deficit.

Moore has proposed funding a “receiving center” for women seeking to get out of the sex trade in North Seattle, such as Real Escape from the Sex Trade’s (REST) emergency shelter, which receives some city funding. She has not mentioned funding other services, such as health care, legal counseling, and other services from which sex workers who aren’t looking for REST-style shelter might also benefit.

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