*Seattle Residents Only

In June 2020, at the height of BLM protests in Seattle and across the country, our City Council unanimously agreed to end Seattle’s regressive “prostitution loitering” law.

That was a big move — and a wise one. “Loitering” laws do nothing to prevent sex trafficking or crime. It was clear to even our most conservative City Council members back in 2020, and it’s still true now.

Yet new D5 Councilmember Cathy Moore, a formal criminal judge, just announced she’s spearheading an effort to bring back the anti-woman, anti-Black “prostitution loitering” law. The law allows police to arrest people for seeming like prostitutes — it says a person can be found guilty of loitering if they “beckon to, stop or attempt to stop, or engage passersby in conversation,” or even engage in “hailing, waving of arms, or any other bodily gesture.”

The loitering law is so broad, it could apply to virtually anyone existing in public space. But evidence shows the law wasn’t leveraged against just anyone: it was most often used to target Black, Brown, poor, and LGBTQ+ people.

But our City Council doesn’t just want to go back in time — they want to add new, never-before-tested “stay out” orders that would literally bar people accused of sex and drug crimes from entering entire swathes of the city, under policies called “SOAP” (stay-out-of-area prostitution) and “SODA” (stay out of drug area). The new laws would mean that after someone is charged with a crime — and before they even see trial — it would be illegal for them to enter entire neighborhoods.

As a judge, Cathy Moore knows our entire legal system is built on the premise that people are innocent until proven guilty. There’s no credible way to justify banning people from a 7-mile stretch of homes, businesses, and key transit routes in Seattle simply because they’ve been charged with a crime.

As sex workers, we know that “loitering laws,” trespassing people from their own neighborhoods, and criminalizing poverty don’t help reduce crime.

Being thrown in jail for “loitering,” or for existing in public spaces, just makes it harder for people who are struggling to get back on their feet.

This law is bad for sex workers, it’s bad for sex trafficking victims, and it’s bad for anyone who wants the freedom to hang out in public without fear of being arrested for looking sketchy.

Our new City Council has done nothing but try to roll back the gains we’ve made for working people in our city. When they were elected, they promised to do what they could to increase public safety. Regressive laws like the ones being proposed make us all less safe. Send a letter to tell Seattle City Council we’re not interested in going back in time.