Bill Text: FL S1690 | 2024 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

---

Bill Title: Human Trafficking

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Failed) 2024-03-08 - Died in Fiscal Policy [S1690 Detail]

Download: Florida-2024-S1690-Introduced.html

---

       Florida Senate - 2024                                    SB 1690
       
       
        
       By Senator Yarborough
       
       
       
       
       
       4-00560B-24                                           20241690__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to human trafficking; amending s.
    3         562.13, F.S.; revising applicability; creating s.
    4         787.30, F.S.; prohibiting the employment of persons
    5         younger than 21 years of age in adult entertainment
    6         establishments; providing criminal penalties;
    7         providing an effective date.
    8  
    9         WHEREAS, Florida is ranked third nationally for reported
   10  cases of human trafficking abuses, many of which involved sex
   11  trafficking, and
   12         WHEREAS, adult entertainment establishments are widely
   13  recognized as being a significant part of the sex trafficking
   14  network used by traffickers to coerce and facilitate men, women,
   15  and children into performing sexual acts, which places the
   16  employees of these establishments in direct and frequent contact
   17  with the victims of human trafficking, and
   18         WHEREAS, victims of sex trafficking are frequently
   19  recruited to work as performers or employees in adult
   20  entertainment establishments, and
   21         WHEREAS, researchers have found that sex trafficking
   22  victims are more likely to be trafficked by someone from within
   23  her or his own community, and
   24         WHEREAS, persons younger than 21 years are more likely to
   25  still remain within and dependent on the community in which they
   26  were raised, and
   27         WHEREAS, research studies have identified the average age
   28  at which a person in the United States enters the sex trade for
   29  the first time is age 17, and
   30         WHEREAS, sex trade at adult entertainment establishments is
   31  a common occurrence in Florida, thereby subjecting performers at
   32  these establishments to frequent propositions and enticements to
   33  engage in sex trade actions and sex trafficking from customers,
   34  as well as strip club employees, managers, and owners, and
   35         WHEREAS, an understanding of history and human nature
   36  reveals that there are sex criminals of various kinds who will
   37  prey on the young and vulnerable, and
   38         WHEREAS, restricting the employment of persons younger than
   39  21 years of age at adult entertainment establishments furthers
   40  an important state interest of protecting those vulnerable
   41  individuals from sex trafficking, drug abuse, and other harm,
   42  and
   43         WHEREAS, many court opinions recognize that while
   44  expressive activities are entitled to some First Amendment
   45  protections at adult entertainment establishments, content
   46  neutral restrictions or regulations intended to minimize the
   47  secondary harmful effects of those businesses tend to be upheld,
   48  and
   49         WHEREAS, on November 16, 2018, the federal Fifth Circuit
   50  Court of Appeals, in the case of Jane Doe I v. Landry, reported
   51  at 909 F.3d 99 (5th Cir. 2018), upheld a Louisiana law that
   52  prohibited establishments licensed to serve alcohol from
   53  employing nearly nude entertainers younger than 21 years of age
   54  on the grounds that the law furthered the state’s interests in
   55  curbing human trafficking and prostitution, and
   56         WHEREAS, the federal district court in Valadez v. Paxton,
   57  553 F.Supp.3d 387 (W.D. Tex. 2021), denied a motion for a
   58  preliminary injunction against the enforcement of Texas Senate
   59  Bill 315 prohibiting “all working relationships between 18-20
   60  year-olds and sexually-oriented businesses” because the
   61  plaintiffs failed to show that the age restrictions were not
   62  rationally related to the state’s interest in curbing human
   63  trafficking, and
   64         WHEREAS, the federal district court in DC Operating, LLC v.
   65  Paxton, 586 F.Supp.3d 554 (W.D. Tex. 2022), denied a motion for
   66  a preliminary injunction against Texas Senate Bill 315, at least
   67  in part, because of the state’s evidence of the correlation
   68  between raising the minimum employment age and reducing human
   69  trafficking, and
   70         WHEREAS, the federal district court in Wacko’s Too, Inc.,
   71  v. City of Jacksonville, 658 F.Supp.3d 1086 (M.D. Fla. 2023),
   72  upheld age restrictions in a City of Jacksonville ordinance
   73  requiring performers at adult entertainment establishments to be
   74  at least 21 years of age based, at least in part, on evidence
   75  that there was a reasonable basis to believe that the age
   76  restrictions would further the City’s interest in preventing
   77  human and sex trafficking, NOW, THEREFORE,
   78  
   79  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   80  
   81         Section 1. Section 562.13, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   82  read:
   83         562.13 Employment of minors or certain other persons by
   84  certain vendors prohibited; exceptions.—
   85         (1) Unless otherwise provided in this section, it is
   86  unlawful for any vendor licensed under the Beverage Law to
   87  employ any person under 18 years of age.
   88         (2) This section shall not apply to:
   89         (a) Professional entertainers 17 years of age who are not
   90  in school.
   91         (b) Minors employed in the entertainment industry, as
   92  defined by s. 450.012(5), who have either been granted a waiver
   93  under s. 450.095 or employed under the terms of s. 450.132 or
   94  under rules adopted pursuant to either of these sections.
   95         (c) Persons under the age of 18 years who are employed in
   96  drugstores, grocery stores, department stores, florists,
   97  specialty gift shops, or automobile service stations which have
   98  obtained licenses to sell beer or beer and wine, when such sales
   99  are made for consumption off the premises.
  100         (d) Persons 17 years of age or over or any person
  101  furnishing evidence that he or she is a senior high school
  102  student with written permission of the principal of said senior
  103  high school or that he or she is a senior high school graduate,
  104  or any high school graduate, employed by a bona fide food
  105  service establishment where alcoholic beverages are sold,
  106  provided such persons do not participate in the sale,
  107  preparation, or service of the beverages and that their duties
  108  are of such nature as to provide them with training and
  109  knowledge as might lead to further advancement in food service
  110  establishments.
  111         (e) Persons under the age of 18 years employed as bellhops,
  112  elevator operators, and others in hotels when such employees are
  113  engaged in work apart from the portion of the hotel property
  114  where alcoholic beverages are offered for sale for consumption
  115  on the premises.
  116         (f) Persons under the age of 18 years employed in bowling
  117  alleys in which alcoholic beverages are sold or consumed, so
  118  long as such minors do not participate in the sale, preparation,
  119  or service of such beverages.
  120         (g) Persons under the age of 18 years employed by a bona
  121  fide dinner theater as defined in this paragraph, as long as
  122  their employment is limited to the services of an actor,
  123  actress, or musician. For the purposes of this paragraph, a
  124  dinner theater means a theater presenting consecutive
  125  productions playing no less than 3 weeks each in conjunction
  126  with dinner service on a regular basis. In addition, both events
  127  must occur in the same room, and the only advertised price of
  128  admission must include both the cost of the meal and the
  129  attendance at the performance.
  130         (h) Persons under the age of 18 years who are employed in
  131  places of business licensed under s. 565.02(6), provided such
  132  persons do not participate in the sale, preparation, or service
  133  of alcoholic beverages.
  134  
  135  However, a minor to whom this subsection otherwise applies may
  136  not be employed if the employment, whether as a professional
  137  entertainer or otherwise, involves nudity, as defined in s.
  138  847.001, on the part of the minor and such nudity is intended as
  139  a form of adult entertainment.
  140         (3)(a) It is unlawful for any vendor licensed under the
  141  beverage law to employ as a manager or person in charge or as a
  142  bartender any person:
  143         1. Who has been convicted within the last past 5 years of
  144  any offense against the beverage laws of this state, the United
  145  States, or any other state.
  146         2. Who has been convicted within the last past 5 years in
  147  this state or any other state or the United States of soliciting
  148  for prostitution, pandering, letting premises for prostitution,
  149  keeping a disorderly place, or any felony violation of chapter
  150  893 or the controlled substances act of any other state or the
  151  Federal Government.
  152         3. Who has, in the last past 5 years, been convicted of any
  153  felony in this state, any other state, or the United States.
  154  
  155  The term “conviction” shall include an adjudication of guilt on
  156  a plea of guilty or nolo contendere or forfeiture of a bond when
  157  such person is charged with a crime.
  158         (b) This subsection shall not apply to any vendor licensed
  159  under the provisions of s. 563.02(1)(a) or s. 564.02(1)(a).
  160         Section 2. Section 787.30, Florida Statutes, is created to
  161  read:
  162         787.30 Employing persons under the age of 21 years in adult
  163  entertainment establishments prohibited.—
  164         (1) A person may not knowingly employ any person younger
  165  than 21 years in any adult entertainment establishment, as
  166  defined in s. 847.001.
  167         (2) A person who violates subsection (1) commits a felony
  168  of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s.
  169  775.083, or s. 775.084.
  170         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.