State laws sought on human trafficking | al.com

Image via Wikipedia

By Erin Stock -- The Birmingham News
February 24, 2010, 11:48AM

Alabama has seen a hand­ful of high-profile cases of human trafficking within state lines in recent years -- from a 2007 raid on a brothel at an Albertville mo­bile home to the arrest last year of a Florence man charged with coercing a mi­nor to perform a sex act for money.

While federal prosecutors have moved on those cases, they can't pursue them all, say some victims' advocates and state lawmakers. They're pushing for a state law against human traffick­ing that supporters say would lead to more pros­ecutions in Alabama of what's considered modern­day slavery.

"Right now we've only got one arm of government that's involved, and we're depending on the federal government to take care of everything in Alabama," said state Rep. Jack Wil­liams, R-Vestavia Hills.

Williams and Sen. Wen­dell Mitchell, D-Luverne, in­troduced bills this session that would criminalize hu­man trafficking. Mitchell's version passed the Senate on Tuesday and now must go to a House committee, while Williams' bill passed a House committee earlier this month. Such a law would bring Alabama in line with 43 other states, accord­ing to the Polaris Project, a national organization that supports the legislation.

"The federal government just cannot prosecute all the cases of human trafficking in the states," said Kristin Fortin, the group's policy counsel.

Beyond criminalizing hu­man trafficking, the pro­posed law would provide mandatory restitution for victims and give them a means to bring civil cases against traffickers. The crime of human trafficking in the first degree would be punishable by 10 years to life in prison, as a Class A felony. In addition, anyone who interferes with an investigation into trafficking could be charged with a Class C felony and be sen­tenced to one to 10 years behind bars.

Now, such acts must be prosecuted on the state level under charges such as "pro­moting prostitution" or kid­napping, said Barry Matson, deputy director of the Ala­bama District Attorney's As­sociation.

"We as prosecutors and law enforcement need to be able to have every tool we can to make those cases," he said. "This gives us another means to protect people who need protecting."

A state law gives local law enforcement an incentive to focus on trafficking cases, Fortin said. Ultimately, it will empower state and local officials to root out more of these crimes, Williams said.

It's difficult to estimate the number of human traf­ficking victims in Alabama, or anywhere, because vic­tims are hidden and often moved regularly, said Sara Jane Camacho, executive di­rector of Freedom to Thrive. The Birmingham-based nonprofit organization seeks to raise awareness about human trafficking.

Traffickers likely pass through Alabama, she said: "We're on the routes from Atlanta down to Texas and Florida, which are huge pockets for sex trafficking."

One gauge of human traf­ficking in the state is the Po­laris Project's hotline, which has received 13 calls about potential human traf­ficking in Alabama since De­cember 2007, Fortin said. She guessed the number would be higher if the hotline were better publicized.

Another indicator of the problem, Camacho said, is the presence of runaways. One of every three teenagers on the street will face sexual exploitation for money or other economic reasons within 48 hours of leaving home, she said, citing Na­tional Runaway Switch­board statistics.

E-MAIL: estock@bhamnews.com

State laws sought on human trafficking | al.com