It is hard to believe that in today’s society such a thing like human trafficking exists. The term is more reminiscent of ancient times.
It is even harder to conceive that this violation of human rights is not limited to Third-World countries but is occurring in nations like ours. And it is even more difficult to fathom that human trafficking is going on in our own backyard in Tennessee and that law enforcement agencies have recently seen it increase dramatically.
A new report ordered by the General Assembly and conducted by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Vanderbilt Center for Community Studies revealed extremely disturbing findings about human trafficking in our state. Seventy-eight of the 95 counties reported at least one case of human sex trafficking in the past 24 months. Sixty-eight counties reported at least one case of human sex trafficking involving a minor child, while just four counties, Shelby, Davidson, Coffee and Knox, each reported more than 100 cases that involved minors.
Human traffickers target the most vulnerable among us, those with the quietest voices and find it hardest to fight back. These victims often include immigrants, children and runaways. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reports that one in four children who run away are approached for commercial sexual exploitation within 48 hours of leaving home.
The TBI report shows that current state laws for prostitution and minor/adult sex trafficking are insufficient to deter the crime. Sen. Beverly Marrero and I sponsored and passed bipartisan legislation that attacks the problem on two fronts: First, the burden of punishment for human trafficking is placed on the shoulders of those who “recruit” and “sell” children as prostitutes, rather than the underage prostitutes who should be helped to reintegrate into society. Second, the “clients” themselves should have to serve significant time and pay significant fines when caught trying to solicit prostitutes or purchase human slaves.
Felony count for patrons
The legislation passed this year will enhance penalties against those who patronize or promote the illegal act. Currently, patronizing prostitution is a Class B misdemeanor in Tennessee. Under the new law, penalties for patronizing prostitution from a person who is younger than 18 or has an intellectual disability will be a Class E felony. Penalties for promoting prostitution are increased from a Class E to a Class D felony when a minor is involved.
Additionally, the measure specifies that, when it is determined that a person charged with prostitution is under 18, they are to be immune from prosecution and released to a parent or guardian after receiving information on resources available to put the young victim back on the right track.
No country, rich or poor, civilized or not, is immune from the problem of human sex trafficking. Hopefully, the legislation approved this year will begin to address this problem in a serious and significant way and be a real deterrent to the exploitation of far too many children who are held hostage by those who use, abuse and exploit them.
(NASHVILLE, TN), May 25, 2011 – Before adjourning the 2011 legislative session on Saturday, the Tennessee General Assembly approved two strong anti-crime bills sponsored by Senator Doug Overbey (R-Maryville), including legislation closing a loophole in state law that has allowed sexual predators to escape prosecution on a technicality. Senate Bill 69, adds wording to Tennessee law to ensure that law enforcement posing as minors can be used to prosecute cases where sexual predators use electronic means to solicit those under the age of 18. The companion bill in the House, House Bill 154, was sponsored by Rep. Bob Ramsey (R-Maryville).
“Law enforcement should have the ability to conduct an operation to catch sexual predators who prey on our children here in Tennessee,” said Senator Overbey. “This bill closes the loophole in state law to ensure these predators are prosecuted regardless of the mode of communication they use to solicit a child.”
Currently it is a Class E felony for a person, 18 years of age or older, to intentionally persuade a minor to engage in sexual activity by electronic communication, mail or Internet service, or to display pornographic material through these means. If the minor is less than 13 years of age, a violation is a Class C felony.
“Our laws must keep up with the new technology used by sexual predators every day in America to victimize children,” added Overbey. “This legislation closes the loophole so our law enforcement officers can successfully prosecute offenders of this terrible crime.”
The General Assembly also approved Senate Bill 1456, sponsored by Overbey, to authorize judges to allow a district attorney to use a wiretap when the interception may provide evidence of a criminal gang-related activities. Currently, wiretap authority is only allowed when criminal homicide or drug felonies are involved. This legislation would also add home invasions to the list of gang-related activities where a wiretap may be authorized.
“Criminal gangs are present in many communities in our state, as too many citizens live under constant threat of home invasion by these groups,” added Overbey. “This bill will give law enforcement the opportunity to work on the preventative end of this crime and hopefully deter burglaries and the more serious threat of bodily harm to the victims in their own homes at the hands of these gangs.”
(NASHVILLE, TN), May 21, 2011 – Legislation sponsored by Senator Doug Overbey (R-Maryville) that attacks the growing problem of child prostitution and human trafficking in Tennessee was approved in last day action in the State Senate on Saturday. Senate Bill 64 would enhance penalties against those who patronize or promote the illegal act.
Approval of the bill comes after a recent joint operation between the FBI and the Hamblen County Sheriff’s Department resulted in the arrest of nine individuals for human trafficking. According to law enforcement, the women were lured from Mexico to East Tennessee with the promise of employment, but were forced into prostitution. In November, federal authorities broke up a human trafficking ring that provided underage prostitutes involving 29 Somali men and women with ties to outlaw gangs. According to the indictment, one of the intentions of those involved was to identify, recruit and obtain girls under age 14 for prostitution. The ring operated in Nashville, Minneapolis and Columbus, Ohio.
“These predators and criminal gangs target children because of their vulnerability, as well as the market demand for these young victims,” added Overbey. “That is why it is so important to strengthen penalties against those who exploit them. It is intolerable that in 2011, this crime is growing rather than decreasing. We must continue to take the steps needed to address it.”
“Passage of this legislation helps put Tennessee at the forefront of states in attacking this problem. It is sickening that human sex trafficking and child prostitution exist, and we must do all we can to eradicate these practices and those who promote, support and patronize them,” Sen. Overbey said. “I’m grateful that my Senate colleagues gave this measure their unanimous support.”
Currently, patronizing prostitution is a Class B misdemeanor in Tennessee, unless the crimes are committed within 100 feet of a church or 1.5 miles of a school, which is punishable as a Class A misdemeanor. The legislation would make patronizing prostitution from a person who is younger than 18 years of age or has an intellectual disability a Class E felony. Penalties for promoting prostitution would be increased from a Class E to a Class D felony when a minor is involved, under the bill. Additionally, the proposal specifies that if it is determined that a person charged with prostitution is under age 18, they would be immune from prosecution for prostitution and would be released to a parent or guardian after receiving information regarding resources available to put them on the right track.
(NASHVILLE, TN), May 19, 2011 – Governor Bill Haslam signed legislation this week requiring private insurance plans to include coverage of hearing aids for children. Senate Bill 607, sponsored by Senator Doug Overbey (R-Maryville), Senator Bill Ketron (R-Murfreesboro) and Representative Richard Montgomery (R-Sevierville), requires that health insurance policies provide coverage of up to $1,000 per individual hearing aid per ear, every three years, for every child covered as a dependent by the policy holder.
“Insurance coverage for hearing devices is very important to help make them affordable so these children grow and learn,” said Senator Overbey. “There are many benefits to passing this legislation. If you provide hearing aids in early childhood you save money for therapeutic services and hospitalization down the road. The true savings of allowing children to have hearing aids, however, is that they become active members of their school day one.”
“I am very pleased this bill has become law,” added Senator Ketron. “No child should have to go through life without hearing, especially when there is a medical device available to help them.”
“This bill has been of great importance to many of us,” added Representative Montgomery. “Hearing is critical to the development of a child. This new law will help many children have an opportunity to receive a hearing device for both their own personal success and to become productive citizens of Tennessee.”
This editorial was originally published on The Tennessean.
Bill Haslam’s first budget proposal as governor is proceeding in the General Assembly, and it is noteworthy for how it would navigate the state through the loss of federal stimulus funds and a sluggish economic recovery.
But the governor’s plan has some serious flaws in how it treats Tennessee’s social safety net — looming gaps in essential services that simply do not have to be a part of Haslam’s “new normal’’ view of a leaner state government.
An analysis by a coalition including the Tennessee Health Care Campaign, Tennessee Justice Center, Tennessee Disability Coalition, National Alliance on Mental Illness-Tennessee and Tennesseans for Fair Taxation indicates that the governor’s current plan would cut vital services to vulnerable populations who fall under the Departments of Children’s Services, Health, Human Services, Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and the TennCare Bureau of the Department of Finance and Administration.
Yes, the coalition acknowledges that the state must live within its means. But it also has found that millions are being kept in reserve funds that arguably should be spent now to maintain these services to children, the elderly and people with disabilities. Even worse, many more millions in federal matching funds will go to other states because social-service reserve dollars have been diverted to nonessential areas.
The coalition has identified a number of revenue sources that would not bust the budget, but consider the TennCare Reserve Fund alone. As of June 30, $260.6 million will sit untouched in this fund — while nearly $128 million in reductions in state money for TennCare programs will take effect the next day. Those include cuts originally planned by the Bredesen administration before federal stimulus money allowed a reprieve, but Gov. Haslam’s additional cuts would take a heavy toll on services ranging from birthing-method reimbursements to the money that pays for group-home nursing attendants and home health providers. Needless to say, health-care jobs, especially those on the lower end of the pay scale, will be lost in this scenario.
As the coalition notes, the TennCare Reserve Fund was established at a time when TennCare routinely ran over budget. Now that TennCare spending has been below budget for some years, why not use the money to keep the safety net viable? Furthermore, each dollar sitting in the reserve is worth only a dollar. If it were being spent on health and mental health, the federal government would match $2 to every $1. Instead, those millions will go to other states.
There are even more ways that the administration seems prepared to sit on funds that exceed state emergency needs. The state’s “rainy-day’’ fund will have a balance of $283.6 million by June 30. Gov. Haslam’s budget would increase the contribution to the fund — in addition to money resulting from better-than-expected state revenue collections this year.
Good business? Of course; and that is the very strength of Bill Haslam. His fiscal and executive skills are much of why voters put him in office. Some responsibilities of state government, however, do not easily fall within business precepts. The prospects for low birthweight babies in a state with a high infant-mortality rate, for example. The ability to control the cost of care of people with intellectual disabilities, for another.
It is in such cases that the state must step in, because the need for help is dire, and because there is no one else who can help. If the state guts intellectual-disability services to the extent that its patients end up at home, with families who cannot afford to care for them, on the streets or in the correctional system, the state not only has consigned these individuals to misery, it has cost taxpayers more money by shifting the burden to institutions that cost more to operate.
The time for deciding on the governor’s budget is nearly upon us. State Sen. Doug Overbey, R-Maryville and Rep. Mike Harrison, R-Rogersville, have wisely proposed an amendment to restore mental-health funding, but a broader review is needed. Gov. Haslam has shown himself to be a compassionate person through mission work in his church. He can extend that spirit by ensuring Tennessee’s most vulnerable people get the help they need — and still balance the budget.
(NASHVILLE, TN), May 11, 2011 – Legislation sponsored by State Senator Doug Overbey (R-Maryville) designed to attack the growing problem of child prostitution and human trafficking in Tennessee was approved Wednesday in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Senate Bill 64 would enhance penalties against those who patronize or promote the illegal act, as well as gives law enforcement powers to impound a vehicle used in the commission of the offense.
Approval of the bill comes only days after a joint operation between the FBI and the Hamblen County Sheriff’s Department resulted in the arrest of nine individuals for human trafficking. According to law enforcement, the women were lured from Mexico to East Tennessee with the promise of employment, but were forced into prostitution. In November, federal authorities broke up a human trafficking ring that provided underage prostitutes involving 29 Somali men and women with ties to outlaw gangs. According to the indictment, one of the intentions of those involved was to identify, recruit and obtain girls under age 14 for prostitution. The ring operated in Nashville, Minneapolis and Columbus, Ohio.
“These predators and criminal gangs target children because of their vulnerability, as well as the market demand for these young victims,” added Overbey. “That is why it is so important to strengthen penalties against those who exploit them. It is intolerable that in 2011, this crime is growing rather than decreasing. We must continue to take the steps needed to address it.”
Currently, patronizing prostitution is a Class B misdemeanor in Tennessee, unless the crimes are committed within 100 feet of a church or 1.5 miles of a school, which is punishable as a Class A misdemeanor. The legislation would make patronizing prostitution from a person who is younger than 18 years of age or has an intellectual disability a Class E felony. Penalties for promoting prostitution would be increased from a Class E to a Class D felony when a minor is involved, under the bill. Additionally, the proposal specifies that if it is determined that a person charged with prostitution is under age 18, they would be immune from prosecution for prostitution and would be released to a parent or guardian after receiving information regarding resources available to put them on the right track.
The Legislature’s Joint Committee on Children and Youth heard testimony last fall from Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Assistant Special Agent in Charge Margie Quinn who said law enforcement agencies have seen a “dramatic increase” in the crime recently. Quinn said Tennessee’s proximity to Atlanta, which is the worst city in the nation, is likely a contributing factor.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reports that one in four children who run away are approached for commercial sexual exploitation within 48 hours of leaving home.
Above is the floor speech by Senator Overbey regarding Senate Bill 607 / HB 761
(NASHVILLE, TN), May 5, 2011 — Legislation requiring private insurance plans to include coverage of hearing aids for children was approved by the full Senate today by a vote of 19 to 13. Senate Bill 607, sponsored by Senator Doug Overbey (R-Maryville) and Representative Richard Montgomery (R-Sevierville), requires that health insurance policies provide coverage of up to $1,000 per individual hearing aid per ear, every three years, for every child covered as a dependent by the policy holder.
“Insurance coverage for hearing devices is very important to help make them affordable so these children grow and learn,” said Senator Overbey. “There are many benefits to passing this legislation. If you provide hearing aids in early childhood, you save money for therapeutic services and medical treatment down the road. The true savings of allowing children to have hearing aids, however, is that they become active members of their school from day one.”
The bill now goes back to the House for approval of a minor amendment before it goes to the Governor for his signature.
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