Requires the court to waive any mandatory surcharge and crime victim assistance fee when it is found that the defendant is a victim of sex trafficking

BILL NUMBER:S6803

Title of bill

An act to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to waiving certain fees for victims of sex trafficking

Purpose

To waive the mandatory surcharge and crime victim assistance fee when the court finds the defendant is a victim of sex trafficking.

Summary of provisions

Section one amends subdivision 2 of section 420.35 of the Criminal Procedure Law, as amended by section 6 of Part F of Chapter 56 of the Laws of 2004, to provide that a court shall waive any mandatory surcharge and crime victim assistance fee when the court finds that a defendant is a victim of sex trafficking under section 230.34 of the Penal Law or a victim of trafficking under the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act. Section two provides the effective date.

Justification

Although New York has been a leader in enacting laws that recognize that sexually exploited persons should be treated as victims and not as criminals, requiring victims to pay a mandatory surcharge runs squarely against that principle.

For any number of reasons, a young woman may not be prepared to seek or receive services, a primary reason being she is still under the control of her exploiter and does not believe she can break free from her circumstances. Accordingly, she may decide to plead guilty to a violation of disorderly conduct to be able to return to the streets. In doing so, under current law, she must pay $120 ($95 as a mandatory surcharge and $25 as a crime victim assistance fee). If she pleads guilty to a misdemeanor, she would have to pay $200 ($175 mandatory surcharge plus $25 crime victim assistance fee). It is likely that she will have no money of her own and her trafficker will be waiting for her on release, prepared to pay the surcharge and fee on her behalf. With the mandatory amounts paid by her trafficker, the trafficked victim is indebted to the trafficker, enabling the trafficker to increase his control over her and require her to return to the conduct that brought her to criminal court (i.e. prostitution). By imposing the mandatory surcharge and crime victim assistance fee, we place another shackle on a trafficking victim, further impeding any attempt to escape a life of exploitation.

If we are committed to treating sexually exploited persons as victims and assisting them to break the cycle of exploitation and regain control of their own lives, we cannot impose a financial burden that is likely impossible for them to meet and thereby obligate them to be indebted to the very people from whom they are trying to escape.

Legislative history

New bill.

Fiscal implications

Minimal. In 2013, statewide, a total of $460 in mandatory surcharges and crime victim assistance fees had been imposed in connection with the disposition of persons under 18 charged with prostitution or loitering for prostitution.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to convictions on or after the effective date as well as to charges for such offenses pending on the effective date for which sentence had not yet been imposed.