Californians always be banning stuff. Lawmakers in the Golden State recently banned awful "assault weapons," out of concern for the children. Their general safety. Protecting their future, et cetera, et cetera. So it's a little inconsistent when those same California lawmakers decide to legalize something as damaging as child prostitution. No, you're not reading an article from The Onion. But boy do I wish you were...

Beginning on Jan. 1, prostitution by minors will be legal in California.

SB 1322 bars law enforcement from arresting sex workers who are under the age of 18 for soliciting or engaging in prostitution, or loitering with the intent to do so. So teenage girls (and boys) in California will soon be free to have sex in exchange for money without fear of arrest or prosecution.

This terribly destructive legislation was written and passed by the progressive Democrats who control California's state government with a two-thirds "supermajority." To their credit, they are sincere in their belief that decriminalizing underage prostitution is good public policy that will help victims of sex trafficking. Unfortunately, the reality is that the legalization of underage prostitution suffers from the fatal defect endemic to progressive-left policymaking: it ignores experience, common sense and most of all human nature — especially its darker side.

Okay, so what the legislature is trying to do is focus on the pimps, you see. By making it legal to be a child sex worker, the "intention" was to focus the full force of the law on the pimp. Leave the kids out of it, they're just victims! You can probably hear a bleeding heart screaming at you from behind their hashtag or decorative awareness ribbon.

But as The Washington Examiner also notes, like many a leftist policy, this too falls short by ignoring reality. Criminals skirt the law like a feminist skirts hygiene. Or salads. Dollars to cronuts, a criminal is going to exploit this new law to his benefit. Here's a stab:

Pimping and pandering will still be against the law whether it involves running adult women or young girls. But legalizing child prostitution will only incentivize the increased exploitation of underage girls. Immunity from arrest means law enforcement can't interfere with minors engaging in prostitution — which translates into bigger and better cash flow for the pimps. Simply put, more time on the street and less time in jail means more money for pimps, and more victims for them to exploit.

That sound you hear? The other shoe dropping. Except this shoe is a size 5 1/2, formerly worn by a girl who should be plastering her pink walls with Justin Bieber posters. Alas, she's been pimped out by a derelict pervert. The police cannot approach her as readily, because...well, it's not illegal for her to be a whore. So she continues raking in cash given to her by sweaty fat men who may work at Salon.com, which she then gives to her pimp. Who's delighted with California's bleeding heart twits. Progress.

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