Prostitution law aimed at saving young
Friday, September 26th 2008, 9:59 PM
ALBANY - Child prostitutes will be treated as crime victims - not criminals - under a new law Gov. Paterson signed into law Friday.
The legislation decriminalizes child prostitution and requires that people under 18 who are arrested for sexually-oriented crimes be given needed social services, including emergency shelter and crisis counseling.
"What we are talking about is addressing the problem right from the start and helping these kids rehabilitate their lives," said Craig Miller, a spokesman for state Sen. Dale Volker, who sponsored the measure.
The bill was among dozens that Paterson signed into law this week, his office announced Friday.
Also approved was legislation allowing the city to operate its planned Gansevoort peninsula marine recycling transfer station near W. 14th St. in Manhattan and a measure outlawing protests within 300 feet of funerals.
The funeral bill was prompted by a fundamentalist Kansas church that pickets military funerals across the country in the belief that the Iraq war is punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.
Paterson also vetoed 39 bills, including one pushed by Westchester Assemblyman Richard Brodsky that required the city to use "the best technology available" to estimate evacuation times. Brodsky has criticized the city's disaster preparedness.
Paterson, in his veto message, said the city has the technology.
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