The Manhattan District Attorney puts an end to prostitution lawsuits

“Over the last decade, we have learned from those who lived experience and our own experience on the ground: prosecuting prostitution criminally does not make us safer, and all too often we achieve the opposite result by further marginalizing vulnerable New Yorkers.” said Mr. Vance, a Democrat, said in a statement. He called the cases a relic of a different New York.

The decision to dismiss the cases comes after New York state lawmakers earlier this year repealed a law that criminalized the arrow for prostitution. “For too long, trans people have been unjustly targeted and subjected to disproportionate policies for innocent and legal conduct based solely on their appearance,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said after signing the bill. in February.

The measure was largely approved following the party line. Lawmakers who supported repealing the law, known as the ban on “walking while trans,” said it led to discriminatory surveillance of trans women. Some state Republicans said at the time that the bill would hamper enforcement efforts and hinder the prevention of prostitution.

After Mr. Cuomo signed the legislation, judges from other districts dismissed similar cases at the request of district attorneys. In March, Queens, Brooklyn and Bronx district attorneys asked judges to dismiss hundreds of prostitution-related cases. Other New York City district attorneys have not announced policies to stop prosecuting prostitution.

Mr. Vance’s new policy comes at a time when U.S. prosecutors are rethinking their approach to prostitution cases. In prostitution cases in Brooklyn, prosecutors offer services to defendants and dismiss cases, usually before any court appearance, a district attorney’s spokesman said. In March, District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said people with open orders — such as the old prostitution-related safeguards that dismissed his office — are more likely to go underground and be less likely to report abuse or other crimes.

Abigail Swenstein, a lawyer for the Legal Aid Society’s Exploitation Intervention Project, which works with sex workers, said the Manhattan district attorney’s office had dismissed most cases of prostitution in recent years, but usually not until a defendant appeared in court and was referred to services such as counseling. Under the new policy, arrested people will not have to appear in court.

Ms. Swenstein said that while the policy does not prevent the New York City Police Department from making arrests, she expected officers to choose not to make arrests knowing that prosecutors would not file charges.

“It remains to be seen what the NYPD will do to move forward,” he added. The police department did not respond to any requests for comment.

New York Assembly member Mike Reilly, a Republican who opposed state law, said Manhattan’s new prostitution policy set a dangerous precedent. “He flies before the law and order,” said Reilly, who once worked as a police officer in a unit that enforced prostitution laws.

Mr Reilly said he knew several unlicensed massage parlors in his Staten Island district. “Failure to hold these people accountable for these illegal activities will only lead to more serious crimes,” he said. “Now they will do it without any darkness.”

Write to Corinne Ramey to [email protected]