The Times deserves credit for shining a light on this crisis, and for pointing out how California laws like SB 357 have handicapped police efforts to rescue minors and transformed Figueroa Street into what one police chief called an "open sex market, 24 hours a day, 365 days out of the year." Yet the reporter failed to mention SB 357's author, Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), who is now running to replace Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, nor the man who signed the law, Governor Gavin Newsom, who is now officially eyeing the presidency. Why?

The Predictable Consequences of Ideology Over Reality

California Family Council warned about this exact outcome back in 2021 when the bill was first introduced. We helped facilitate a broad coalition of law enforcement officials, anti-trafficking organizations, and community leaders in urging Governor Newsom to veto SB 357. Our concerns were not theoretical. They were grounded in the lived experience of those who serve trafficking victims daily.

Greg Burt, California Family Council's Senior Vice President of Outreach & Partnerships, was unequivocal in his warning: "SB 357 will make it harder for police to rescue victims and identify traffickers. This bill prioritizes ideology over the safety of vulnerable women and children." His prophecy has proven devastatingly accurate.

Before SB 357 took effect in January 2023, law enforcement could initiate contact with individuals suspected of being trafficked based on loitering observations. This wasn't about harassing marginalized communities—it was about creating opportunities for intervention that could save lives. As San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit told the Daily Wire, "In the past, you know, when we were able to contact women or those involved in sex trafficking, we could use the ‘loitering with intent' after we watched them. Once they decriminalize that, we really don't have an entryway into making that contact anymore." 

The Times article confirms this reality: After SB 357's January 2023 implementation, uniformed officers could no longer apprehend groups based on appearance because "with fake eyelashes and wigs, it was nearly impossible" to determine age." Let that sink in. Even when officers suspect children are being sold for sex, they cannot intervene without witnessing the crime in progress.

Chief Nisleit's December 2022 observations underscore the human cost of this policy failure. On Christmas morning at 3 a.m., he told Fox News, "multiple women out there, barely wearing any clothes, and very brazen about what they were doing when they told me what they were doing, because there is nothing that we can do."

A Moral Catastrophe Rooted in Moral Confusion

Scripture teaches us that "whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck," (Matthew 18:6). The protection of children is not merely a policy preference; it is a sacred duty that transcends political ideology.

Yet SB 357 represents the bitter fruit of a worldview that prioritizes abstract notions of "decriminalization" and "anti-profiling" over the concrete reality of children being bought and sold on our streets. The bill's supporters cloaked their arguments in the language of compassion and criminal justice reform, claiming the loitering law disproportionately targeted marginalized black and brown women. What they failed to acknowledge (or deliberately ignored) is that the most marginalized among us are the children trapped in trafficking.

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan witnessed this reality firsthand after SB 357 took effect: "What I saw was an open sex market with young women barely dressed and a line of sex buyers waiting in cars as casually as if they were at a drive-through ordering a hamburger." She wrote in a San Diego Union-Tribune editorial. "Girls as young as 13 are being openly sold for sex on San Diego County streets." 

Repealing the prostitution loitering law made it harder for police to investigate human trafficking, Stephan wrote, since "uniformed officers could patrol the streets and deter loiterers intent on selling or buying sex." Now, they must rely on costly undercover operations to find victims and gather evidence.

Where Are Newsom and Wiener?

The New York Times article spends thousands of words describing the horror on Figueroa Street, yet Governor Gavin Newsom's name appears nowhere. Senator Scott Wiener, who authored SB 357 and has a well-documented history of pushing radical social policies, is similarly absent. This is not merely poor reporting; it is a dereliction of journalistic duty.

Governor Newsom's signing statement on SB 357 included this revealing admission: "My Administration will monitor crime and prosecution trends for any possible unintended consequences and will act to mitigate any such impacts." Nearly three years later, with "preteens hobbling in stilettos" on Figueroa Street and an eleven-year-old among trafficking victims, where is the Governor's promised action?

When California Family Council President Jonathan Keller warned that "Governor Newsom's signature on SB 357 represents a betrayal of California's most vulnerable," he was dismissed by progressive advocates who accused opponents of fear-mongering. Today, these fears have materialized into a documented crisis that even the New York Times cannot ignore.

The pattern is clear: California's political leadership pushes through ideologically-driven legislation despite warnings from law enforcement and child protection advocates, then conveniently disappears when the predicted consequences emerge. Meanwhile, children pay the price.

The Biblical Case for Intervention

The Bible consistently calls God's people to defend the vulnerable. "Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause" (Isaiah 1:17). "Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy" (Proverbs 31:9). The Mosaic law specifically protected vulnerable women and demanded severe penalties for sexual exploitation.

SB 357 does the opposite. It strips law enforcement of tools to intervene on behalf of trafficking victims and creates an environment where exploitation flourishes. When San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit told ABC 7 News, "My biggest concern is coming true. We're seeing young women trafficked against their will. A lot of them being juveniles," he is describing a policy that has abandoned Biblical principles of justice and protection. (Image: Pixabay)

The bill's advocates claimed it would protect women from harassment. In reality, it has subjected the most vulnerable women and girls to increased violence. As the New York Times article notes, "Figueroa had become more violent. The younger the girl, the more customers would pay, which meant preteens were often being robbed and assaulted by groups of older girls trying to make quota."

This is the twisted logic of a culture that has abandoned objective moral truth. When we reject the Biblical understanding that all human life bears the image of God (Genesis 1:27) and that children deserve special protection, we create the conditions for their exploitation.

A Call to Account and A Call to Action

California Family Council has been sounding the alarm about SB 357 since before its passage. We joined law enforcement officials, prosecutors, and anti-trafficking ministries in warning that this legislation would make it exponentially harder to rescue victims and arrest traffickers. We were right.

We called on Governor Newsom to veto the bill. He ignored us. We warned that the consequences would be catastrophic for California's most vulnerable. Those warnings were dismissed as alarmist. Now, The New York Times has documented the disaster we predicted, yet they shockingly still refuse to name those directly responsible.

It is time for California's media to connect the dots between policy and outcome. It is time for Governor Newsom to answer for the "unintended consequences" he promised to monitor and mitigate. It is time for Senator Wiener to explain why his ideological agenda was worth the cost of eleven-year-olds being sold for sex on California streets. Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

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