California’s legal system is even causing Democrats to say enough.
Democratic California state Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman took to the California Senate floor on Wednesday, as the state looked to pass a new law upgrading penalties for soliciting sex from a minor.
Senate Bill 1414 Crimes: solicitation of a minor was introduced in February and looked to upgrade the crime of soliciting a minor from a misdemeanor to felony, carrying a two to four year prison sentence, payment of a fine and sex offender registration.
During her time to speak, Talamantes Eggman became enraged over amendments made to the bill by California’s Senate Public Safety Committee. KCRA-TV reported these changes would not make solicitation a felony if the minor is 16 or 17 years old — effectively protecting some child abusers.
Democrat CA state Senator Susan Talamantes Eggman says she is “done” with the Democrat party protecting violent criminals who abuse children.
Wow 🔥🔥
“I’d like to say as a progressive, proud member of this body for the last 12 years, I’m done.”
“I’m done with us protecting… pic.twitter.com/BT6kL7b4o5
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 30, 2024
She put her foot down: “I’m done. I’m done with us protecting people who would buy and abuse our children. I’m done. … I don’t want more people in prison, but I don’t want people buying girls. I don’t want people buying little girls anymore, and I’m tired of saying its OK and that we have to protect the men who do it.”
“I am arguing that we have a moral responsibility to say enough. …We have given away enough on this area, and we’ve got to move back into the center, or we all look like fools.”
Should there be harsher penalties for people who exploit children?
Yes: 100% (3 Votes)
No: 0% (0 Votes)
Talamantes Eggman also mentioned how lax laws currently in place do not do enough in mentioning what she sees happening in the state’s capital in Sacramento. “Men are being given a little slap on the hand or a couple of days [in jail], and then they’re back out again, and they do the same thing. They get caught over and over and over again, and somehow that’s OK. Its not OK.”
While the current law is absolutely unacceptable in allowing sex offenders to slip by with little punishment, where is the controversy concerning 16 and 17 year olds coming from? The initial draft was criticized by California Public Defenders Association, who told the U.K.’s Daily Mail, ‘This change will unfortunately lump some defendants into the category of sex offender with lifelong consequences for them and their families even though the intent is completely lacking,”
The bill’s author, Republican state Sen. Shannon Grove, called the change, “garbage” stating it was “no longer my bill” due to the change.
Talamantes Eggman is right to be enraged, but as she implied, this needed to happen much sooner.
How anyone could look to protect sex offenders who prey on children in the first place is incomprehensible.
One year in jail is nothing compared to the harm and lasting trauma victims will experience.
Talamantes Eggman said she has personally witnessed the failings of the system with criminals back on the streets in no time at all.
We only need to look at the numbers to see how right she is as thousands of pedophiles are put back on the streets in California in less than a year.
Even under the proposed felony law, two to four years seems lenient.
Conservatives lamenting California’s downfall is nothing new.
Unfortunately, despite hammering everything that state has done from its disastrous minimum wage laws to its leniency towards sex offenders, the left — specifically Gov. Gavin Newsome — does not listen.
Its optimistic, but someone like Talamantes Eggman lashing out could spawn a wave of legal reform to get this state back on track.
