He is the son of William Walcott and Phoebe Alling. “If a trafficker were planning a victim could just use vacatur as a remedy, that would mean the trafficker is acknowledging the fact that they are a trafficker which further exposes them to liability.Benajah Walcott is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A127398.īenajah was born in 1762. “Vacatur, often, will involve turning on the trafficker and providing information about that experience,” said Cynthia Lill, executive chairwoman of the Human Trafficking Prevention Project (HTPP) and third-year law student at Quinnipiac. The Quinnipiac University School of Law Civil Justice Clinic, which has been advocating for the passage of HB 6657, is in favor of including all crimes, including class A and B felonies. HB 6657 would allow all Connecticut victims of human trafficking to request a vacatur.Īccording to a January report on the bill by the Office of Legislative Research, a 2019 New Hampshire statute vacates “indecent exposure and lewdness, prostitution, or any other misdemeanor or class B felony, where the conduct was committed as a direct result of being trafficked and did not involve an act of violence.” A similar Florida statute would vacate all crimes other than serious felonies like murder. I was heartbroken.”Ībdullah stumbled upon the potential of vacatur, “almost by accident.” In New York court, the prosecutor decided to vacate all of her charges, but currently, situations like hers are only being considered on a case-by-case basis. I got accepted to an EMT school but before I could even start classes, I was told that because of my criminal record I could never be an EMT. I volunteered with an ambulance corps and through that work I realized I wanted to become an EMT. “After escaping my last trafficker I worked hard to reclaim my life,” Abdullah said. Victims, legal experts, and community members asked lawmakers to advance the bill because of the frequency with which victims are often forced to commit crimes as a result of trafficking that place a damper on their life, long after they are freed from trafficking. “Besides being arrested in Manhattan many times for prostitution, I also was arrested for possession of drugs.”Ĭlick above to vote on HB 6657: AN ACT CONCERNING HUMAN TRAFFICKING “I was not only forced with violence to sell my body, but I was also forced to sometimes carry and sell drugs,” said Sharifa Abdullah, founding member of the Advisory Board for The Legal Aid Society’s Exploitation Intervention Project. Section 7 of the new bill will expand the vacatur statute to include any charges. The current Human Trafficking statute allows for victims to vacate prostitution charges. The bill, HB 6657, an Act Concerning Human Trafficking, was referred to the Judiciary Committee on March 18. Ninety different individuals and organizations submitted written testimony or testified Wednesday before the state legislature’s Judiciary Committee in support of a bill to allow victims of sex trafficking to vacate charges accumulated as a result of being trafficked. Hartford State’s Attorney Sharmese Walcott testifies Wednesday, March 24, 2021, before the Judiciary Committee on HB 6657, An Act Concerning Human Trafficking. Trackbill: Search Legislation Nationwide. Become A Press Patron! Open dropdown menu.
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