Victory! Sex Workers Removed From Louisiana Sex Offender Registry

From our friends at Women With A Vision and Center for Constitutional Rights:

Louisiana to Remove Hundreds of Individuals Unconstitutionally Placed on Sex Offender Registry

Last night, in a federal class action lawsuit filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and co-counsel, a settlement with Louisiana was finalized that will remove from the sex offender registry approximately 700 individuals who had been required to register solely because of a Crime Against Nature by Solicitation (CANS) conviction.  Today’s settlement follows a ruling last year in a related case that found the CANS registration requirement unconstitutional. Despite that ruling, hundreds of people convicted of CANS remained on the registry.  CCR filed a class action on their behalf, which led to today’s settlement.

“We are gratified that the state has agreed to vindicate the rights of hundreds of people who continued to be unconstitutionally registered as sex offenders,” said Center for Constitutional Rights Staff Attorney Alexis Agathocleous.  “This registration requirement has disproportionately affected African American women and LGBT individuals who will now – finally – be able to begin to rebuild their lives.”

When charging someone for soliciting oral or anal sex for a fee, police and prosecutors in Louisiana have unfettered discretion in choosing whether to charge someone with prostitution or CANS.  Until 2011, however, only a CANS conviction required sex offender registration. The court previously held application of the sex offender registration requirement to nine individuals unconstitutional because it imposed different consequences for a CANS conviction than a prostitution conviction for exactly the same conduct, without any rational basis. 

“I am overjoyed.  This is truly an historic moment. Justice has prevailed and dignity has been restored to the women and men who have been denied their basic human rights for so long. We celebrate this true collaboration of community, affected individuals, and the amazing lawyers that together made a difference,” said Deon Haywood, Executive Director of Women With A Vision, a community-based organization in New Orleans that has led advocacy efforts around this issue. 

People affected by this law have been barred from homeless shelters, physically threatened, and refused residential substance abuse treatment because providers will not accept registered sex offenders at their facilities.  As in the earlier case, all plaintiffs in this action proceeded anonymously for fear of retaliation.

“The lingering injustice, resulting from over 20 years of discriminatory enforcement of this law at police and prosecutors’ whims, will now finally come to an end,” said Andrea Ritchie, co-counsel to CCR in Doe v. Jindal and Doe v. Caldwell.  “The State of Louisiana will now finally bring its conduct into compliance with the Constitution and the court’s prior rulings. This is an unqualified victory for Black women, poor women, and LGBTQ people who fought back against injustice and won.”

Plaintiffs are represented by the Center for Constitutional Rights, the law firm of Kairys, Rudovsky, Messing & Feinberg, LLP, police misconduct attorney Andrea J. Ritchie, and Loyola University New Orleans College of Law Stuart H. Smith Law Clinic & Center for Social Justice. 

Women With A Vision, Recovering From Arson, Purchases Building

Women With A Vision, a community-based non-profit founded by a grassroots collective of African-American women in response to the spread of HIV/AIDS in communities of color, has just made a downpayment on a building in Midcity New Orleans. The Vision House will enable the organization to continue and expand their work - but first the house needs massive repairs, including gutting the entire structure, shoring of the foundation, and rebuilding the house from the inside out. They have set up an online campaign to donate, here.

Below is more information, from the WWAV fundraising website:

On May 24, 2012, Women With A Vision suffered what could have been a debilitating blow. Our offices were ransacked and torched in an aggravated arson attack; we were left with nothing but the charred remains of twenty-one years of work.

In the wake of this attack, you helped us remember that fire can also be a powerful tool of rebirth. Through your support and generosity, we were not only able to continue to be a lifeline for New Orleans’ most vulnerable women in this time of crisis, but we were also able to reach new heights in the national and international fight for women’s health and wellbeing.

We write now to ask for your continued support as we work to open our new home after the fire.

We at Women With A Vision envision an environment in which there is no war against women and LGBTQ communities, in which people have spaces to come together and share their stories, in which people are empowered to make decisions concerning their own bodies and lives, and in which people have the necessary support to realize their hopes, dreams, and full potential. Since 1991, this vision has been our rallying cry, taking us from the streets of New Orleans to the halls of Congress as we work to give people the tools to make their lives better and to organize for justice.

But 2012 was a particularly big year for us.

* We brought in the New Year with several Hill visits to testify to the on-the-ground impact of HIV criminalization, drug prohibition and funding cuts to health services;
* On March 29th, we won a monumental victory when U.S. District Court Judge Martin Feldman deemed Louisiana’s Crime Against Nature by Solicitation statue unconstitutional. We have gotten 68 people off the sex offender registry list, and an additional 116 people have filed motions;
* In June, just days after the fire, we launched our Micro-Enterprise program to support our participants’ economic self-sufficiency as they transition from street-based economies;
* In July, we traveled to Washington, DC to bring a focus on the HIV/AIDS crisis among women of color in the South at this historic International AIDS Conference;
* We welcomed Fall with the launch of our new harm reduction policy initiative; and
* We concluded a yearlong partnership with Louisiana State University through which we were able to refer more than 300 low-income women for breast cancer screenings.

Most importantly, we end 2012 having just secured a new space on North Claiborne, which we will make our Vision House. The outpouring of support we received after the fire helped us make the down payment on the property, but we still have massive repairs ahead of us, including gutting the entire structure, shoring of the foundation, and rebuilding the house from the inside out.

Crime Against Nature Law Back in Court

From our friends at Women With A Vision and Center for Constitutional Rights:

Fill the Court For Oral Arguments In the Case To Overturn Louisiana’s Crime Against Nature Law!

Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012, 10:00 a.m
Federal District Court, 500 Poydras Street
Judge Feldman’s Court—Room C551

Many of you supported us during Doe, et al. v. Jindal, et al.-- a federal lawsuit filed against state officials in Louisiana, challenging the fact that a Crime Against Nature by Solicitation (CANS) conviction requires registration as a sex offender on the state sex offender registry.  On March 29, 2012, the Court ruled in Plaintiffs’ favor, agreeing that this registration requirement violates the Equal Protection Clause of the US Constitution. The Court unambiguously ruled that it is unconstitutional to require someone to register as a sex offender solely because of a CANS conviction.

Yet almost 500 people remain on the registry.

So we’ve sued the state again, and we need your support. 

Doe, et al. v. Caldwell, et al. is a federal class action lawsuit seeking to remove from the sex offender registry the hundreds of people who are still forced to register solely as a result of a CANS conviction despite the March 29, 2012 ruling in Doe v. Jindal that deemed that practice unconstitutional.

In Louisiana, people accused of soliciting sex for a fee can be criminally charged in two ways: either under the prostitution statute, or under the solicitation provision of the Crime Against Nature statute.  This archaic statute, adopted in 1805, outlaws “unnatural carnal copulation,” which has been defined by Louisiana courts as oral and anal (but not vaginal) sex.  Police and prosecutors have unfettered discretion in choosing which to charge.  But a Crime Against Nature conviction subjects people to far harsher penalties than a prostitution conviction.  Most significantly, individuals convicted of a Crime Against Nature are forced to register as sex offenders.

The registry law imposes many harsh requirements that impacts every aspect of our clients’ lives.  For example, they must carry a state driver’s license or non-drivers’ identification document which brands them as a sex offender in bright orange capital letters.  They must disclose the fact that they are registered as a sex offender to neighbors, landlords, employers, schools, parks, community centers, and churches.  Their names, address, and photographs appear on the internet. 

Many of our clients have been unable to secure work or housing as a result of their registration as sex offenders.  Several have been barred from homeless shelters.  One has been physically threatened by neighbors.  And another has been refused residential substance abuse treatment because providers will not accept sex offenders at their facilities.

Our clients are not alone in being forced to register as sex offenders solely as a result of a Crime Against Nature by Solicitation conviction.  Indeed, almost 40 percent of registered sex offenders in Orleans Parish are on the registry as a result of such a conviction.  76 percent of these individuals are women, and 80 percent of them are African American.

CCR argues that being forced to register as a sex offender because of a Crime Against Nature conviction serves no legitimate purpose whatsoever.  As such, it is unjustifiable and unconstitutional.  CCR further contends that the only reason our clients are registered sex offenders is that they were convicted under the provisions of a 200-year-old statute that condemns non-procreative sex acts and sex acts traditionally associated with homosexuality, solely on grounds of moral disapproval.

Women With A Vision also spoke at the New Orleans City Council about the recent arson attack they faced. See the clip here.

Official Statement From Women With A Vision After Recent Arson

This letter and video is reposted from the website of Women With A Vision. You can donate on their site: http://wwav-no.org.

Dear friends, colleagues and family,

Today we reach out to express our gratitude for your support and to let you know that everyone in the Women With A Vision family is safe.

Thanks to the fast response of all of our supporters across the country, many of you have already heard that our office was broken into last night and set on fire. The worst damage was concentrated in our community organizing and outreach office where we store all of the resources we use to educate our community. We lost everything. We do not have an office to operate out of right now.

Most of our office equipment and all of our educational resources were destroyed. Because of the targeted nature, we can only assume that this was intentional.

We are shaken to be sure, and deeply worried about how we will provide for our members while we are rebuilding. But the work will continue. This cannot and will not stop us from speaking out for people who do not have a voice.

Please know that your thoughts, your prayers, your kind words and your positive energy are felt. Your care for WWAV is what is giving us the strength to make sure that we reopen, bigger and better than before, as soon as possible.

But we will literally be starting from scratch, so donations and in-kind contributions are critical right now.

Immediate Meeting Spaces for WWAV Events. We are in the process of finding a new permanent home, but also need immediate assistance with space. We have several coalition meetings that were to be held at the WWAV office next week, and our new micro-enterprise program is scheduled to launch early next week. New Orleans friends, do you have conference room space you can lend? Member programming will need to accommodate 10-15 people. Coalition events will bring together 20-25 people.

Donations to Replace our Health Education Materials. We lost all of our health education materials, including harm reduction supplies, condoms/dental dams/lube, reproductive health models, educational brochures, hygiene kits and OraSure HIV tests. Replacing these will cost thousands of dollars. If you are able, please make a tax-deductible donation through our website.
• $50 will buy a case of male condoms;
• $100 will cover a month supply of harm reduction kits,
• $250 will replace one of our reproductive health models;
• $500 will enable us to make a month’s supply of hygiene kits;
• $1000 will buy a case of female condoms; and
• $2000 to replace our two cases of OraSure rapid HIV tests.

Suits/Dresses/Shoes to Restock our Clothing Bank. We have lost all of the professional clothing that was donated to WWAV for our women to go on job interviews. Please contact us if you have suits, skirts, dress pants, dresses and shoes to donate. Women’s clothing 8 to plus-size and shoe sizes 7 to 12 are most needed.

Donations to Replace our Office Furniture & Supplies. When we are ready to move into our new office, we will need to replace most of our office furniture, all of our office supplies, and all of our decorations for WWAV member holiday events and women-centered programming. Desks, desk chairs, and furniture for our drop-in space will all be incredibly costly. And we all know how quickly copy paper and post-it notes can add up. Any donation will help us to open as quickly as possible. Gift cards to office supply stores like OfficeMax, Office Depot and Staples are welcome. In-kind contributions of women-centered art, social justice posters, and holiday decorations will all be deeply appreciated when we are nearer to our re-opening date.

Donations to Replace Computers & Printer(s). One desktop computer, one laptop and one printer were completely destroyed in the fire. We are in the process of testing our remaining computers and printer to see if they have been permanently damaged by smoke. At this point, our technology replacement costs are unknown. Again, any donation will help us to reopen as quickly as possible.

We will continue to post updates to our website as our rebuilding process continues. Please keep checking back!

For now, we thank you for your love and your support. We are truly humbled to be on this journey with such an incredible community of allies. And the work continues…

In struggle,

Deon Haywood, WWAV Board of Directors, WWAV Staff and the women we support

Break-in and Arson at Offices of Women With a Vision, Local Organization That Advocates for Poor Women of Color

UPDATED: See youtube video embedded below featuring Deon Haywood and footage from WWAV office. For the official statement from WWAV, as well as a list of needs, see this link.

Shockwaves went out across social justice communities across the US at the word that Women With a Vision, a local organization that advocates for poor women of color, was the victim of a break-in and arson at their offices in MidCity.

Women With A Vision (WWAV) was co-founded by a collective of Black women in 1991 as a response to the non-existence of HIV prevention resources for those women who were the most at risk: poor women, sex workers, women with substance abuse issues, and transgender women.

WWAV executive director Deon Haywood announced the news late last night: "Family and Friends, thank you all for the kind words, and positive energy. Someone broke into our office and torched it...We are all safe. The office with important files and outreach supply was burned and there is smoke and water damage. We're looking for a space and donations can be made on our website."

The attack seemed political in its nature, directly targeting the crucial information, files, and materials needed for WWAV's work. According to an email report from Bill Quigley, a social justice attorney and friend of the organization, "Major fire damage was done to a room which contained education and outreach materials. The arsonist seemed to have deliberately targeted this room. Destroyed were: three plastic and silicone breast models which were used to help people learn how to do self-examinations for breast cancer; a plastic pelvic model of a vagina; a two feet by one and a half foot plastic model of a woman’s reproductive system; boxes of male and female condoms; flip charts demonstrating the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV; several wooden penises which were used for condom demonstration; and boxes of educational materials. The fires in that room seem to have been set with some accelerant and scorched the walls, ceiling fan and ceiling and destroyed everything in the room....The offices were ransacked leaving drawers pulled out and papers and files on the floor. A TV and a laptop were taken but many valuables were left including computer monitors, office equipment, even some beer left over from a reception held earlier in the week. Several small fires were started inside the offices, in the bathroom, the hallway and in a sitting room."

WWAV has made national news for leading the fight against Louisiana's Crime Against Nature Statute, which targeted poor women of color, transgender women, and anyone forced to trade sex for food or a place to sleep at night, forcing them to register as sex offenders. With the leadership of WWAV, which was directly accountable to those most affected, a national coalition that also included Center for Constitutional Rights and police misconduct attorney Andrea Ritchie was able to get the law off the books and has won legal victories in the process of removing the sex offender registration requirements for those convicted in the past.

UPDATE: In a video released this afternoon (and embedded below) WWAV executive director Deon Haywood shows the damage and discusses the effects, concluding, "We are fighters, we are warriors here at Women With a Vision, and we continue our work."



We will help spread the word as more information becomes available, but for now we hope you will make a donation to support the crucial work of WWAV.

Another Victory Against Louisiana's Crime Against Nature Statute: Judge Orders Plaintiffs Removed from Sex Offender Registry

A judge's order yesterday took another step towards ending the harsh legacy of Louisiana's Crime Against Nature Law. Below is a press release on the issue from Center for Constitutional Rights.
Louisiana must “cease and desist” from placing any individuals convicted of Crime Against Nature by Solicitation on Sex Offender Registry

Yesterday, a federal judge declared that requiring individuals convicted under Louisiana’s “Crime Against Nature by Solicitation” (CANS) law to register as sex offenders is unconstitutional. He ordered defendants to cease and desist from placing any individuals convicted of CANS on the registry and to remove the plaintiffs from the registry within 30 days. Defendants have agreed not to appeal the judge’s order.

In a March 30th ruling, Judge Martin L. C. Feldman of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana issued an opinion concluding that the sex offender registration requirement under CANS violated the Equal Protection Clause. The State, wrote Judge Feldman, could not “credibly serve up even one unique legitimating governmental interest [to] rationally explain” why those convicted under the CANS statute were singled out for sex offender registration, while individuals convicted of identical conduct under Louisiana’s prostitution statute were not required to register.

“We are pleased that the court has granted full relief to our clients and found the registration requirement unconstitutional across the board, creating a path to justice for everyone who is still required to register based on a Crime Against Nature by Solicitation conviction,” said Alexis Agathocleous, staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights who represents the plaintiffs. “We hope that the state will move with all deliberate speed to apply this ruling to individuals who are still affected by this unconstitutional and discriminatory requirement.”

Previously, people accused of soliciting sex for a fee in Louisiana could be criminally charged in two ways: either under the prostitution statute or under the solicitation provision of the Crime Against Nature statute. A CANS conviction carried harsher penalties than a prostitution conviction, including the sex offender registration requirement. Police and prosecutors had unfettered discretion in choosing which to charge.

“Judge Feldman’s order is a huge step towards righting an egregious wrong,” said Deon Haywood, executive director of Women With A Vision, a community-based organization in New Orleans that has led advocacy efforts around this issue. “For far too long, CANS has unfairly attached a stigma to individuals whom police and prosecutors decided should be punished more harshly than others. Judge Feldman’s order brings this practice to an end.”

Many of the plaintiffs in the case had been unable to secure work or housing as a result of their registration as sex offenders. Several had been barred from homeless shelters, one had been physically threatened by a neighbor, and another had been refused residential substance abuse treatment because providers will not accept registered sex offenders at their facilities.

“Yesterday’s judgment represents a significant victory for women and LGBTQ people of color who have long labored under the discriminatory policing and prosecution of CANS,” said Andrea J. Ritchie, a police misconduct attorney who is co-counsel on the case. “We sincerely hope that the state will proceed swiftly and efficiently to stop the continuing violations of the rights of people convicted of CANS still on the registry and immediately remove them.”

Individuals who are on the registry solely as a result of CANS convictions prior to August 15, 2011 should send their contact info to info@ccrjustice.org.

Plaintiffs are represented by CCR, police misconduct attorney Andrea J. Ritchie, Loyola University New Orleans College of Law Stuart H. Smith Law Clinic & Center for Social Justice, and pro bono counsel Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP.

The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Founded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights movements in the South, CCR is a non-profit legal and educational organization committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change. Visit www.ccrjustice.org and follow @theCCR.

The End of Sex Offender Registration for Louisiana Sex Workers?

Judge Rules That Sex-Offender Registration for “Crime Against Nature by Solicitation” Convictions Is Unconstitutional
From Center for Constitutional Rights:

Yesterday, one day after attorneys from the Center for Constitutional Rights argued that individuals convicted prior to August 2011 under Louisiana’s “Crime Against Nature by Solicitation” (CANS) law should not have to register as sex offenders, a federal judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana agreed and granted summary judgment to the plaintiffs. The statute was amended in August 2011 to no longer require those convicted of CANS to register, but the change was not made retroactive.

“The defendants fail to credibly serve up even one unique legitimating governmental interest that can rationally explain the registration requirement imposed on those convicted of Crime
Against Nature by Solicitation,” wrote Judge Martin L. C. Feldman of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. “The Court is left with no other conclusion but that the relationship between the classification is so shallow as to render the distinction wholly arbitrary.”

“Today’s decision is a powerful vindication of our clients’ right to equal protection before the law. The court has agreed that they have been singled out for this harsh treatment without a legitimate or rational purpose, and that this cannot stand,” said Alexis Agathocleous, staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights.

Previously, people accused of soliciting sex for a fee in Louisiana could be criminally charged in two ways: either under the prostitution statute or under the solicitation provision of the Crime Against Nature statute. A CANS conviction carried harsher penalties than a prostitution conviction, including the sex-offender registration requirement. Police and prosecutors had unfettered discretion in choosing which to charge. Judge Feldman’s ruling holds that the discrepancy violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution.

“Today’s ruling is a testament to the power and importance of speaking out for justice. Individuals marginalized by the CANS law told their stories, spearheading a campaign to change the law,” said Deon Haywood, executive director of Women With A Vision, a community-based organization in New Orleans that has led advocacy efforts around this issue. “The people heard, the legislature heard, and now the courts have heard. Now we can move on to healing and renewal.”

Many of the plaintiffs in the case had been unable to secure work or housing as a result of their registration as sex offenders. Several had been barred from homeless shelters, one had been physically threatened by a neighbor, and another had been refused residential substance abuse treatment because providers will not accept registered sex offenders at their facilities.

“This is an important victory in light of the Department of Justice’s recent finding that this charge was being discriminatorily applied against poor Black women and transgender women and gay men,” said Andrea J. Ritchie, a police misconduct attorney who is co-counsel on the case. “It takes away a discriminatory tool used by police and prosecutors.”

Plaintiffs are represented by CCR, police misconduct attorney Andrea J. Ritchie, Loyola University New Orleans College of Law Stuart H. Smith Law Clinic & Center for Social Justice, and pro bono counsel Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, LLP.

For a letter from Deon Haywood with her reaction, see this link.

OUR WIN – Letter from Women With A Vision Executive Director, Deon Haywood

Yesterday, US District Judge Martin Feldman ruled that the Louisiana law that required sex workers to register as sex offenders is unconstitutional. Lawmakers had already changed the law last year, but this ruling is expected to help remove from the registry hundreds of women (and some men) who remain on the registry because of past convictions.
Dear friends and allies,

There are few times in our work when are truly brought to the point of being speechless. For all of us at Women With A Vision, today is one of those days. Today, we celebrate with the women and men who courageously stood up to combat the criminalization of their lives – and won. Today, we celebrate a victory for all people who have told their truths that justice might be done. WWAV has always just been a catalyst for women affected by this.

So many times, people tried to tell us not to do it. They didn’t believe that poor, uneducated women could win a victory on this scale. They didn’t think that our women were important enough, or that they had the ability to change their own lives. Let this be an example of people standing together through grassroots organizing to change their lives. We didn’t back down even when we lacked the funding to do this. We did not back down when person after person said that they were unsure about standing by us. We knew what we were doing was right. We did not waver. We did not compromise what needed to happen. We just stayed the course and fought the fight.

At a time in this country right now when we feel like justice is not on the side of the people, the people most affected spoke their truths – not some abstract ‘speak truth to power,’ but their truths from their hearts – and that is what made the difference.

This was not a legal fight or a legislative fight. This was a fight for women’s lives and well-being. This was a fight, simply put, about everything. This was about the freedom of people to make choices for themselves. This was about public health. This was about sex worker rights. This was about human rights. This was and is about everything. Which is why we cannot pick apart injustice. We can’t decide that something is wrong for one group and right for another. We can’t decide we don’t like this law for women, but it’s okay for gay people or trans people.

Especially in the South, most people feel like we come in last. But this is where the Civil Rights Movement started. And today it continues in the South.

We have seen too often that the way problems are solved in Louisiana is through incarceration. But over-incarceration is not going to solve things. It’s not going to make our communities safer. It’s not going to make our communities better. The issue here is poverty. Over-incarceration is not going to solve that.

For once, women and men won. And we believe that this is not just a win for us. This is a win for every group that has ever been criminalized. Our win today proves that when we stand with folks who have been wrongly charged, we can make a difference.

With this win, the women of NO Justice can begin to heal. With this win, we can begin to renew and rebuild our lives.

And the struggle continues,

The women we stand with, Deon Haywood, the staff of WWAV, and our Board of Directors

Crime Against Nature Court Hearing This Wednesday

From our friends at Women With a Vision:
As many of you know, last June we had a huge legislative victory in our work to challenge Louisiana’s Crime Against Nature statute, which mandated fifteen years or more of sex offender registration for women who would have otherwise been charged with simple prostitution. While no new women can be sentenced under the law, our legislative victory was not retroactive. But that is going to change next week!

Women With A Vision has partnered with the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), Andrea J. Ritchie, Esq., and the Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, Law Clinic to file a lawsuit that would remove crimes against nature by solicitation from Louisiana’s registry law and remove all persons from the registry registered as a result.

On March 28th, the parties to the lawsuit will argue that plaintiffs, eight individuals convicted of Crime Against Nature by Solicitation, along with everyone else, must be removed from the state’s registry of sex offenders. Plaintiffs in Doe v. Jindal were placed on the registry as a result of allegations that they solicited oral or anal sex for a fee. We will argue they have been required to register as sex offenders simply because they were prosecuted under a provision of Louisiana’s 205-year-old Crime Against Nature statute, rather than its Prostitution statute. Plaintiffs argue that their harsher treatment is unconstitutional.

We hope that you will consider joining us in court next week for the argument to demonstrate to the court and everyone attending that the community is opposed to law. Details below:

Argument in court for the rights of Plaintiffs who remain on the sex-offender registry for old Crime Against Nature by Solicitation convictions
March 28th at 10:00 a.m. CST
District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
500 Poydras Street, Courtroom 551
New Orleans, Louisiana

Legal Challenge to Crime Against Nature Law Moves Forward: Judge Refuses State Request to Dismiss Suit

From our friends at Center for Constitutional Rights
Plaintiffs challenging the discriminatory requirement that they must register as sex offenders because of a Crime Against Nature by Solicitation (CANS) conviction were vindicated yesterday when the District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana refused to dismiss their lawsuit against a number of Louisiana state officials. Plaintiffs in Doe v. Jindal who were charged, prosecuted, and convicted of offering oral sex for compensation have been forced to register as sex offenders under a provision of Louisiana’s 205-year-old Crime Against Nature statute, rather than under its prostitution statute, which punishes the same conduct but does not require sex offender registration.

Center for Constitutional Rights Attorney Alexis Agathocleous said, “We are pleased that the court has vindicated our clients and allowed this challenge to go forward. Judge Feldman has agreed that our clients have raised serious constitutional questions about the discriminatory punishment meted out under the old Crime Against Nature by Solicitation statute, and has agreed that they deserve their day in court. Our clients have been labeled as sex offenders simply because they were convicted of Crime Against Nature by Solicitation rather than Prostitution – which encompasses exactly the same conduct. In a significant victory for our clients, the court will now scrutinize their claim that this distinction is unconstitutional because it results only from moral disapproval of sex acts associated with homosexuality.”

Deon Haywood, Executive Director of Women with a Vision, said, “The women and transgender women of our NO Justice Project have been living with the scarlet letter of ‘sex offender’ status for years. Our clients are mothers, daughters, and veterans. Yet, because of this law, they have been forced to live on the fringes of the community, disconnected from many support systems. It’s time for the State of Louisiana to give them justice, and we are deeply gratified that the court will hear their case.”

The Louisiana legislature recently equalized the penalties between CANS and prostitution, and will no longer require sex offender registration for those convicted of CANS in future cases. But those with old convictions must still register.

“The Court has recognized that the individuals who showed tremendous courage in coming forward to challenge mandatory sex offender registration based solely on a Crime Against Nature by Solicitation conviction have made a plausible claim that this requirement has no rational basis, violates their constitutional rights, and is fundamentally unfair," said police misconduct attorney Andrea J. Ritchie, co-counsel on the case. "They are now one step closer to hopefully being in the same position as those convicted since the legislature corrected the disparity between the statutes, and to being free of this outdated, discriminatory and disparate punishment for a minor nonviolent offense.”

For more information about the federal lawsuit challenging this law, visit this link.

Police misconduct attorney Andrea J. Ritchie, Esq., the Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, Law Clinic, and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP are co-counsel in the case.

The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Founded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights movements in the South, CCR is a non-profit legal and educational organization committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change.

The mission of Women with a Vision is to improve the lives of marginalized women, their families, and communities by addressing the social conditions that hinder their health and well-being. We accomplish this through relentless advocacy, health education, supportive services, and community-based participatory research.

Groups Ask Court to Remove Individuals Convicted of Crime Against Nature by Solicitation from Sex Offender Registry

From our friends at Center for Constitutional Rights:
Today, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), police misconduct attorney Andrea J. Ritchie, Esq., the Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, Law Clinic, and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP argued in federal court for a remedy for individuals who must continue to register as sex offenders for periods of 15 years to life because of a conviction of Crime Against Nature by Solicitation (CANS) despite recent legislation that removes the registration requirement for individuals convicted of CANS after August 15, 2011.

Plaintiffs in Doe v. Jindal have been forced to register as sex offenders simply because they were charged, prosecuted, and convicted of offering oral or anal sex for compensation under a more recent provision of Louisiana’s 205-year-old Crime Against Nature statute rather than under its prostitution statute, which does not require sex offender registration. Plaintiffs argued that the harsher punishment, which has traditionally been meted out to those convicted of CANS rather than prostitution, results solely from moral disapproval of sex acts historically associated with homosexuality, and is thus unconstitutional.

The Louisiana legislature recently equalized the penalties between CANS and prostitution, and will no longer require sex offender registration for those convicted of CANS in future cases.

Attorneys argued before Judge Martin Feldman that nine individuals convicted of CANS prior to the legislature’s removal of the offense from the list of those requiring registration as a sex offender earlier this summer should no longer be mandated to register as sex offenders.

“We welcome this change in the law, which means that these unconstitutional and unfair conditions will no longer be imposed on people who are convicted of a Crime Against Nature by Solicitation in the future,” said Alexis Agathocleous, staff attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights. “But the injustice still persists for those with old CANS convictions. Our clients – along with hundreds of others – remain registered as sex offenders. We are here today because they, too, should receive the benefit of this change in the law, and be removed from the sex offender registry.”

Said Andrea Ritchie, co-counsel in Doe v. Jindal, “The roughly 400 people who remain on the sex offender registry solely as a result of a Crime Against Nature by Solicitation charge are largely poor Black women, including transgender women, and gay men who have themselves experienced violence and discrimination their whole lives, and they deserve a second chance.”

Deon Haywood, Executive Director of Women with a Vision, said, “The women and transgender women of our NO Justice Project live with the scarlet letter of ‘sex offender’ on their driver’s license, some of them for over 20 years. Our clients are mothers, daughters, veterans, and more. Yet, they live on the fringes of the community, disconnected from many support systems, putting them at risk for violence, reincarceration and other harms. It is time for them to experience walking their kids to school and gainful employment, and to have access to safe housing without judgment. Simply put, it’s time for the State of Louisiana to give them justice.”

The mission of Women with a Vision is to improve the lives of marginalized women, their families, and communities by addressing the social conditions that hinder their health and well-being. WWAV accomplishes this through relentless advocacy, health education, supportive services, and community-based participatory research.

The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Founded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights movements in the South, CCR is a non-profit legal and educational organization committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change.

State of Louisiana Continues Push to Criminalize Sex Workers

This June, criminal justice activists in Louisiana won a major victory with the passage of a bill that effectively moved prostitution convictions back to the level of misdemeanor, heralding the end of Louisiana's archaic practice of forcing sex workers to register as sex offenders.

But lawyers for the state of Louisiana apparently still haven't gotten the message. Although the new law will prevent prosecutors and police from the practice in the future, the state is still defending the use of the law for those already convicted.

This is important, because at least 400 women are still being forced to register under the law - some have been sentenced to continue to face this burden for decades more. The state could do the right thing now and do away with the requirement. But instead they are choosing to fight to preserve the draconian punishment, and keep the sex offender registration requirement in effect for those convicted under the law in the past.

In a hearing scheduled for next week, lawyers for the state of Louisiana will argue that the law is constitutional and the sex offender registration should continue to be enforced on women who have already been convicted. "How can state attorneys argue for the necessity of something that the legislature has already voted to eliminate?" asks Davida Finger, Assistant Clinical Professor at Loyola and one of the lawyers who have filed suit against the state.

In other words, although the state legislature has voted to do away with the sex offender requirements, clearly showing that they believe they are not appropriate, and Governor Bobby Jindal has signed the bill that does away with the requirements, this other arm of state government is still defending the law.

Lawyers and advocates are encouraging those who are concerned about this case to come to court on Wednesday morning for the hearing.

The hearing will be:
Wednesday, August 10, 10:00am
500 Poydras, Courtroom C 551

Some background:

Previously, police officers and prosecutors in Louisiana had a choice between charging accused sex workers under the prostitution law, which was a misdemeanor, or under Louisiana's 200-plus year-old "Crime Against Nature" law, a felony. That law was interpreted to apply specifically to solicitation for oral or anal sex, but in practice it meant police had ultimate discretion on who to charge with the greater offense.

The majority sentenced under the law were indigent women of color and transgender women of color. Once convicted, they were also forced to register as sex offenders, which brought a long list of restrictions and requirements, including having the words "sex offender" printed in large letters on their driver's license, and the obligation to send a post card to all of their neighbors informing everyone of their conviction.

The new law did not eliminate the "Crime Against Nature" category entirely, but it made the penalties equal to the misdemeanor-level prostitution charge.

While police continue to harass sex workers across the state, and many women are still imprisoned under these regressive laws (even as US Senator David Vitter faced no penalty for his admitted liaisons with prostitutes), this is a step forward. And much credit should go to the NO Justice Project, convened by Women With A Vision, which worked to raise awareness about this unjust law and fought on multiple fronts to bring it to an end.

In a statement from the NO Justice Project released after the law was signed, Davida Finger, Assistant Clinical Professor at Loyola said, “We welcome this change in the law, which finally brings Louisiana in line with every other state in the country. But the injustice still persists. Almost 40 percent of registered sex offenders in New Orleans are on the registry because of a Solicitation of a Crime Against Nature (SCAN) conviction. They too should receive the benefit of this change in the law and be removed from the sex offender registry.”

Women With A Vision Executive Director Deon Haywood added, "We will continue to fight for justice for all those still living under the penalties of the past. There is still serious work to be done.”

“The grassroots and national leadership of Women with a Vision in tirelessly raising this issue for the past three years is nothing short of heroic,” said Andrea Ritchie, co-counsel in Doe v. Jindal, police misconduct attorney and expert on U.S. policing of women and LGBT people. “This victory is a product of collaboration between community groups, legal advocacy organizations and legislators seeking justice on behalf of the women and LGBT youth suffering from the discriminatory effects of SCAN – it is clear that community organizing can make real change.”

Women With A Vision urges those who have SCAN charges on their record and currently are on the registry to contact them at 504.301.0428.

Sex Offender Registration for Sex Workers Ends in Louisiana

Louisiana's era of forcing certain convicted sex workers to register as sex offenders appears to be over. Governor Jindall's office announced today that he had signed into law a bill, sponsored by Louisiana State Representative Charmaine Marchand Stiaes, that effectively moves prostitution convictions back to the level of misdemeanor.

Previously, police officers and prosecutors in Louisiana had a choice between charging accused sex workers under the prostitution law, which was a misdemeanor, or under Louisiana's 200-plus year-old "Crime Against Nature" law, a felony. That law was interpreted to apply specifically to solicitation for oral or anal sex, but in practice it meant police had ultimate discretion on who to charge with the greater offense.

The majority sentenced under the law were indigent women of color and transgender women of color. Once convicted, they were also forced to register as sex offenders, which brought a long list of restrictions and requirements, including having the words "sex offender" printed in large letters on their driver's license, and the obligation to send a post card to all of their neighbors informing everyone of their conviction.

The new law does not eliminate the "Crime Against Nature" category entirely, but it makes the penalties equal to the misdemeanor-level prostitution charge.

While police continue to harass sex workers across the state, and many women are still imprisoned under these regressive laws (even as US Senator David Vitter faced no penalty for his admitted liaisons with prostitutes), this is a step forward. And much credit should go to the NO Justice Project, convened by Women With A Vision, which worked to raise awareness about this unjust law and fought on multiple fronts to bring it to an end.

In a statement from the NO Justice Project released after the law was signed, Davida Finger, Assistant Clinical Professor at Loyola said, “We welcome this change in the law, which finally brings Louisiana in line with every other state in the country. But the injustice still persists. Almost 40 percent of registered sex offenders in New Orleans are on the registry because of a Solicitation of a Crime Against Nature (SCAN) conviction. They too should receive the benefit of this change in the law and be removed from the sex offender registry.”

Women With A Vision Executive Director Deon Haywood added, "We will continue to fight for justice for all those still living under the penalties of the past. There is still serious work to be done.”

“The grassroots and national leadership of Women with a Vision in tirelessly raising this issue for the past three years is nothing short of heroic,” said Andrea Ritchie, co-counsel in Doe v. Jindal, police misconduct attorney and expert on U.S. policing of women and LGBT people. “This victory is a product of collaboration between community groups, legal advocacy organizations and legislators seeking justice on behalf of the women and LGBT youth suffering from the discriminatory effects of SCAN – it is clear that community organizing can make real change.”

Women With A Vision urges those who have SCAN charges on their record and currently are on the registry to contact them at 504.301.0428.

Photo Above: Women With A Vision Executive Director Deon Haywood.

Louisiana Moves One Step Closer to Eliminating Crime Against Nature Law

From our friends at Women With a Vision:
Just two years ago, we launched the NO Justice Project to challenge the use of Louisiana’s Crime Against Nature statute for prosecuting women engaged in sex work.

Today, the Louisiana Senate voted UNANIMOUSLY in support of our bill to remove Solicitation of a Crime Against Nature (SCAN) from the sex offender registry and make the penalties the same as prostitution.

Next stop is the governor’s office! We will be leaning on all of our local and national allies to ensure that Governor Jindal follows the House and Senate’s lead in signing this important step towards healing and justice for the women of Louisiana into law.

For more information on the bill, please see this article in the Times-Picayune.

For more information on SCAN, please check out our policy brief at this link.

Stay tuned for information on how you can lend your support. For now, please help us spread the word - share this with your friend, re-post to your profile. This is an incredible day for the women of Louisiana and all who are joined in our collective struggles for reproductive and transformative justice!

Photo: Women With A Vision Director Deon Haywood at 2011 Press Conference convened by NO Justice Project at New Orleans Federal Building.

Groups to Challenge Disparate Punishment Under Louisiana’s Crime Against Nature Law

From our friends at Women With A Vision and Center for Constitutional Rights:
Attorneys, Advocates Say Antiquated Law Unfairly Brands Poor Women and LGBT People with Scarlet Letter, Disproportionately Affects African Americans

The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), Andrea J. Ritchie, Esq., and the Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, Law Clinic will file a federal civil rights complaint in the United States District Court Eastern District of Louisiana in New Orleans on Wednesday, February 16, 2011 on behalf of nine anonymous plaintiffs. The case challenges the continuing use of Louisiana’s 200 year-old Crime Against Nature statute to brand people who solicit oral and anal sex – sex acts historically associated with homosexuality – as sex offenders, while a conviction under Louisiana’s prostitution statute triggers no such requirement. The groups will hold a press conference at the New Orleans federal courthouse, 500 Poydras St, at 10:00am CST.

Among those in attendance will be Bill Quigley, CCR Legal Director; Alexis Agathocleous, CCR Staff Attorney; Andrea J. Ritchie, Esq., private police misconduct attorney and co-author of Queer Injustice: The Criminalization of LGBT People in the United States; Davida Finger, Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, Law Clinic; Deon Haywood, Women With a Vision Executive Director; Wes Ware, Lead Youth Advocate, Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana; Shana Griffin, Women's Health and Justice Initiative.

Reform of Louisiana Crime Against Nature Law Creates Little Actual Change

This week, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal signed Senate Bill 381. The law, by Sen. J.P. Morrell of New Orleans, signals an effort to change Louisiana's "Crime Against Nature" law, which has been used as a tool to further stigmatize and victimize indigent sex workers. However, advocates say that the changes are mostly cosmetic.

The Crime Against Nature statute, which dates back to 1805, criminalizes "unnatural copulation" -- a term New Orleans police and the district attorney's office have interpreted to mean soliciting for anal or oral sex. Those who are convicted under this law are issued longer jail sentences and forced to register as sex offenders. They must also carry a driver's license with the label "sex offender" printed on it.

As of last December, of the 861 sex offenders currently registered in New Orleans, 483 were convicted of a crime against nature. And of those convicted of a crime against nature, 78 percent are Black and almost all are women.

A local coalition convened by the organization Women With A Vision has been working to change this law, as well as to support the women who have felt its effects.

According to the Times-Picayune, Senator Morrell's bill "Puts the penalty for a first conviction for soliciting a crime against nature on the same footing as soliciting for prostitution: up to six months in jail, a maximum fine of $500 or both. It changes the crime from a felony to a misdemeanor. But a second offense for soliciting a crime against nature would be a felony punishable by up to five years in jail, a maximum fine of $2,000 or both. If the initial conviction is solicitation of a youth under 17, the harsher penalties will apply. The offender must register with police as a sex offender if he or she has been convicted of soliciting a minor on a first offense or after a second conviction of soliciting a crime against nature of an adult. The new law takes effect Aug. 15."

According Deon Haywood, director of Women With A Vision, this reform does little to address the problems created by the original statute. "It does nothing for the people we know have been charged," she says. In fact, "now it makes them a bigger target, because after the first arrest the police think they got away with something and then they will go after these women even more."

Aside from the fact that the law still treats sex workers like child molesters (just on the second arrest instead of the first offense), it does nothing to address the several hundred women who are already forced to register as sex offenders, and the way this has further isolated them. The law also fails to address the fundamental unfairness of the city policy of putting resources into the isolation and criminalization of already vulnerable communities like indigent sex workers.

"Think about all the people who have been affected by this," explains Haywood. "How does this law help? Is there any program to help women who are facing addiction or living on the street? This city does nothing for women in this situation."

Photo by Abdul Aziz.