Antonio Ray Harvey
New California Law Harshens Penalties for Trafficking Children for Sex
Senate Bill (SB) 14 — legislation that makes trafficking of a minor for purposes of a commercial sex act a serious felony — is now the law in California. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the bill on Sept. 25 accompanied by First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, State Sen. Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield), who authored the bill, State Sen. Anna Caballero (D-Merced), as well as survivors and advocates.
![Sen. Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) talks to the media at the State Capitol on Sept. 13 after SB 14 passed in the Assembly and Senate. CBM photo by Antonio Ray Harvey.](https://www.postnewsgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/shanon-grove-featured-web.jpg)
By Antonio Ray Harvey
California Black Media
Senate Bill (SB) 14 — legislation that makes trafficking of a minor for purposes of a commercial sex act a serious felony — is now the law in California.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the bill on Sept. 25 accompanied by First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, State Sen. Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield), who authored the bill, State Sen. Anna Caballero (D-Merced), as well as survivors and advocates.
SB 14 classifies human trafficking as a serious felony, subjecting it to the state’s “Three Strikes” law, which imposes harsher penalties and sentencing enhancements for individuals convicted of the offense.
“Human trafficking is a sick crime. With this new law, California is going further to protect kids. I’m grateful for the leadership of Senator Grove, Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister), and Pro Tem (Sen. Toni) Atkins (D-San Diego) in spearheading this bipartisan effort to make our communities and children safer,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom at the signing ceremony.
According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, “human trafficking involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act. Every year, millions of men, women, and children are trafficked worldwide.”
Advocates of SB 14 believe it will be a deterrent for the men and women who exploit children using the internet or force them into labor in red-light districts in major California cities such as the 5.7-mile stretch on Figueroa Boulevard in Los Angeles, Capp Street in San Francisco, International Boulevard in Oakland, Stockton Boulevard in Sacramento, Dalbergia Street in San Diego, and Wilson Way in Stockton.
“We got some stats and numbers from Figueroa from people that work in that area to rescue women and children,” Grove said at the State Capitol on Sept. 13. “They made comments that this bill disproportionately affects people of color … and it does. (SB 14) gives women and children an opportunity to be rescued and the perpetrator to be prisoned for many years.
The United States operates a national hotline, which serves as a platform for individuals to report suspected trafficking or seek assistance. According to data gathered from the hotline in 2015 through 2021, the number of people trafficking victims nationwide rose from 12,000 in 2015 to more than 22,200 in 2019 and then fell to 16,700 in 2021.
Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), reports that from 2015 to 2021, the share of human trafficking cases involving sex trafficking increased from 87% to 89% in California, and from 85% to 88% nationally.
Statewide and nationally, sex trafficking is most common in pornography, massage parlors, and hotels. Among those trafficked for their labor, about 1 in 5 works in private homes, according to PPIC’s data.
SB 14 was hotly debated as it made its way through the legislative process this past summer. Some members of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC), including Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-Los Angeles), chair of the Assembly Public Safety Committee were the targets of threats and racial slurs for not initially supporting the bill.
Jones-Sawyer and other CLBC members on the Public Safety Committee — Majority Leader Assemblymember Isaac Bryan (D-Ladera Heights) and Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D-Alameda) — argued that that trafficking was already a crime under California law punishable by 15 years to life in prison. They argued that SB 14 was ineffective as a deterrent to the crime, and that it would perpetuate the poverty-to-prison pipeline.
Jones-Sawyer, who later voted to pass SB 14, said he was never against the bill, only parts of its language, which he deemed unacceptable because he felt it would cause more harm to trafficking victims rather than aid them.
A conviction under SB 14, including previous felonies, would increase prison sentences to 25 years to life. The trafficking of minors currently carries a prison term up to 12 years, or 15 years to life.
“We definitely thought there were a lot of merits to the bill, including how do we make sure these individuals are charged with serious felonies? We wanted to make sure that actually happens,” Jones-Sawyer told California Black Media. “It’s really about making sure that this doesn’t harm victims of human trafficking.”
SB 14, which passed the Assembly and Senate unanimously, is a bipartisan measure co-authored by 64 members of the Legislature. The legislation is supported by over 100 local, national and international organizations, including a coalition of human trafficking survivors and advocates.
Since 2019, California has taken a comprehensive approach to fight human trafficking. The state has invested a total of $280.1 million to dismantle trafficking networks and support victims and survivors, according to the Newsom administration.
The state has provided substantial funding to expand support programs for human trafficking survivors and Family Justice Centers — creating a one-stop facility for victims and their families to access various services — and allocated $25 million for the prevention, intervention, and services for minor victims of commercial sexual exploitation.
Newsom has signed several laws aimed at strengthening legal safeguards for victims of trafficking, including measures for vacating convictions and for considering trauma in determining sentences.
“The trafficking of young women and girls is a heinous crime with far too many victims,” Siebel-Newsom stated. “I’ve seen the pain survivors carry for a lifetime and having recently visited the infamous Figueroa sex trafficking corridor, I’ve witnessed the devastating impacts of these crimes — not just on girls and young women — but on entire communities when trafficking persists.”
Activism
Comparing Histories: Black and Japanese American Advocates Talk Reparations and Justice
Los Angeles-based clinical psychologist Dr. Cheryl Grills and Bay Area-based attorney Don Tamaki, who were part of the nine-member reparations panel, spoke at the “Justice Through Action: Black Reparations-Reparative Justice” event hosted by local chapters of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) in Sacramento on Feb. 8.
![Former reparations task force member and Loyola Marymount Professor of Psychology, Dr. Cheryl Grills, participated remotely in the “Justice Through Action: Black Reparations-Reparative Justice” event at the California State Museum in Sacramento. Attorney Don Tamaki, seated left, appeared at the event presented by Japanese American Citizens League. Donna Komure-Toyama, seated right, was the moderator. Feb. 8, 2025. CBM photo by Antonio Ray Harvey.](https://www.postnewsgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/reparations-and-justice-featured-web.jpg)
By Antonio Ray Harvey, California Black Media
Two former members of the California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans shared some of their experiences developing a 1,075-page report that detailed injustices suffered by African Americans during and after chattel slavery.
Los Angeles-based clinical psychologist Dr. Cheryl Grills and Bay Area-based attorney Don Tamaki, who were part of the nine-member reparations panel, spoke at the “Justice Through Action: Black Reparations-Reparative Justice” event hosted by local chapters of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) in Sacramento on Feb. 8.
The event was held at the California Museum.
“The first impact that the overall report had on me is that it gave me a panoramic view and it was a panoramic view of the elephant in the room,” Grills, who attended the event virtually, told the audience.
Grills said the report the task force compiled presented an undiluted version of the Black experience in America/
“You could see the totality of the elephant,” she said. “The report gives you the fullness and density of the elephant, which was, at the same time, validating, overwhelming, and painful.”
The JACL is the nation’s oldest and largest Asian American-Pacific Islander Civil Rights Organization.
The JACL presentation was hosted to observe the 83rd anniversary of Executive Order 9066, which led to the incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II.
That panel was part of the Northern California Time of Remembrance (NCTOR) committee’s Annual Day of Remembrance program organized in partnership with the California Museum.
Tamaki, who is Japanese American and the only non-Black member of the task force, said the Black and Japanese experiences in America have some parallels but there are significant differences as well.
“When you look at reparations, and this was the eye opener to me, it’s actually a unifying concept,” Tamaki said. “There’s no equivalence between four years in a concentration camp that our community experienced and 400 years of oppression.”
Tamaki explained, “We do have some things in common. Japanese know something about mass incarceration and profiling and the consequences. In that respect, there is a reason for all of us, whatever our background, to start looking at (reparations). We have to cure the body and not just put a band-aid on it.”
Grills is a clinical psychologist whose work focuses on community psychology. A Professor of Psychology at Loyola Marymount University, she us also a past president of the Association of Black Psychologists.
Tamaki is a senior counsel at Minami Tamaki LLP. He has spent decades working with AAPI legal services programs. In the 1980s, he participated in the Japanese American reparations movement and served on the pro bono legal team that reopened the landmark 1944 Supreme Court case of Fred Korematsu.
The case resulted in overturning Korematsu’s criminal conviction for violating the incarceration order that led to the imprisonment of 125,000 Japanese Americans after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Earnest Uwazie, a Sacramento State University criminal justice professor and director of the Center for African Peace and Conflict Resolution, was one of more than 100 persons who listened to the two-hour discussion.
“It’s always great to hear from the people involved in the study of reparations and it is good to get a comparative with the Japanese experience,” said Uwazie. “This was extremely informative.”
Antonio Ray Harvey
In Letter, Conservative Org Threatens Mayor Bass, Other Officials, With Imprisonment
The conservative non-profit America First Legal sent letters to Bass, Attorney General Rob Bonta Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell and other California elected officials that they deem could interfere with federal immigration activities after Donald Trump is sworn-in as president on Jan. 20.
![L.A. Mayor Karen Bass. Courtesy of Mayor Karen Bass Facebook page.](https://www.postnewsgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/karen-bass-featured-web.jpg)
By Antonio Ray Harvey, California Black Media
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is one of 249 officials across the country who have been warned that they could be imprisoned for not supporting federal government efforts to detain and deport people illegally living in the United States.
The conservative non-profit America First Legal sent letters to Bass, Attorney General Rob Bonta, Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell and other California elected officials that they deem could interfere with federal immigration activities after Donald Trump is sworn-in as president on Jan. 20.
America First Legal is run by Trump’s incoming deputy Chief of Staff for policy Stephen Miller. After the election in November, Miller confirmed that he will push for the declaration of a national emergency and use the military to carry out mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.
On Nov. 12, Bass said in a statement that the city of Los Angeles would take swift action to implement protections for immigrant communities.
“Especially in the face of growing threats to the immigrant communities here in Los Angeles, I stand with the people of this city,” Bass stated. “This moment demands urgency. Immigrant protections make our communities stronger and our city better.”
The America First Legal letter to McDonnell’s office by email was dated Dec. 23. It states that the nonprofit “identified Los Angeles as a sanctuary jurisdiction that is violating federal law.”
“Federal law is clear: aliens unlawfully present in the United States are subject to removal from the country, and it is a crime to conceal, harbor, or shield them. It is also a crime to prevent federal officials from enforcing immigration laws. These laws were duly enacted by the people’s elected representatives,” the letter reads.
Antonio Ray Harvey
Black Caucus Members Appointed to Leadership Roles in State Legislature
On Jan. 3, McGuire announced that Laura Richardson (D-San Pedro) was named to the Democratic leadership as Assistant Majority Whip. Richardson will also serve as chair of the Senate Budget Subcommittee No. 5 on Corrections, Public Safety, Judiciary, Labor and Transportation. Akilah Weber-Pierson (D-San Diego) will serve as chair of Budget Subcommittee No. 3 on Health and Human Services.
![California Capitol. iStock Photo.](https://www.postnewsgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/california-statehouse-featured-web.jpg)
By Antonio Ray Harvey,
California Black Media
All 12 members of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) have been assigned leadership roles in the State Senate and the State Assembly, according to separate statements issued by Senate President pro-Tempore Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister).
On Jan. 3, McGuire announced that Laura Richardson (D-San Pedro) was named to the Democratic leadership as Assistant Majority Whip. Richardson will also chair the Senate Budget Subcommittee No. 5 on Corrections, Public Safety, Judiciary, Labor, and Transportation. Akilah Weber-Pierson (D-San Diego) will chair Budget Subcommittee No. 3 on Health and Human Services.
The Senate Labor, Public Employment, and Retirement Committee will be chaired by Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles).
On Dec. 27, Rivas announced his Assembly leadership team and the chairpersons of all Assembly committees, including CLBC members: CLBC Vice Chair Assemblymember Isaac Bryan (D-Ladera Heights), chair of the Natural Resources Committee; Lori Wilson (D-Suisun City), chair of the Transportation Committee; Corey Jackson (D-Moreno Valley), chair of the Budget Human Services Committee; Rhodesia Ransom (D-Tracy), chair of the Emergency Management Committee; Mia Bonta (D-Oakland), chair of the Health Committee; Tina McKinnor (D- Inglewood), chair of the Public Employment and Retirement Committee; Mike Gipson (D-Carson), chair of the Revenue and Taxation Committee; and LaShae Sharp-Collins (D-San Diego), assistant majority leader for Policy.
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