California Against Slavery - 2010 Ballot Initiative
California Against Slavery is a volunteer organization on a justice mission. It was formed by a group of concerned citizens who want to see modern-day slavery abolished. They are in the process of gathering signatures to get an initiative on the November 2010, California ballot, which would strengthen California’s human trafficking laws. The following excerpt from their website describes what the initiative would do:
This ballot initiative would strengthen California’s human trafficking laws by:
Increasing deterrent against traffickers
· Increased penalties and fines, and potential additional fine (Sec. 4 and 7).
Making it easier for District Attorneys to prosecute human trafficking offenses
· Lower standard of proof for sex trafficking of minors (Sec. 4).
· Clearer definition of human trafficking offense through inclusion of psychological coercion into potential elements of offense (Sec. 7).
Providing more protection and provisions for human trafficking victims
· Greater evidentiary protections for human trafficking victims in criminal justice system (Sec. 2).
· Longer timeframe for human trafficking victims to bring civil suit against trafficker (Sec. 1).
· Greater allocation of certain seized assets and fines to organizations that serve human trafficking victims (Sec. 3 and 7).
Requiring that law enforcement officers be trained about human trafficking.
· Mandatory two-hour human trafficking training for law enforcement officers (Sec. 8).
Time is of the essence! 600,000 signatures are needed by March, 31, in order to get it on the ballot. If you would like to sign it and/or collect signatures for this initiative, you may download it here.