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Home > Blogs > Ohio politics > Archives > 2010 > December > 23 > Entry
Strickland signs human trafficking bill
In one of his final acts as governor, Democrat Ted Strickland on Thursday signed into law a measure that gives prosecutors tools to crack down on human sex trafficking and forced slave labor in Ohio.
The new law makes human trafficking a stand-alone, second-degree felony offense with stronger penalties for abduction and kidnapping if they involve involuntary servitude. It also creates an offense for falsifying or destroying government identification for the purpose of trafficking and it incorporates trafficking into the state’s conspiracy and wiretapping laws.
Ohio joins 44 other states that have already established such anti-trafficking measures. “Establishing human trafficking as a second-degree felony offense in Ohio is an important step in taking on this horrific human rights violation. As public servants, we have a serious responsibility to help victims of this crime and condemn the act of human trafficking,” Strickland said.
University of Dayton students and staff helped push through the bill through the General Assembly.
“I think everybody is still fired up. We’ve told everybody this is just a first step so keep that moral outrage stoked because we have more to push,” said Alex Kreidenweis, a UD graduate student and leader of the New Abolitionists Movement.
Kreidenweis said prosecution of traffickers is only part of the equation; Ohio still needs more rehabilitation programs for victims of trafficking.
The anti-human trafficking bill was among three signed by Strickland on Thursday. He also signed into law a bill allowing school districts to participate in Ohio Department of Transportation purchasing contracts and a bill that designates the last week of May as “Ohio Turfgrass Week.”
Those are the last three bills that Strickland signed as governor. His term ends Jan. 9.
The bills were signed in a private ceremony attended by Kreidenweis and University of Dayton faculty members Mark Ensalaco and Tony Talbott.
Strickland also invited state Sen. Teresa Fedor, D-Toledo, who has championed the issue for years, to the bill signing but not state Sen. Tim Grendell, R-Chesterland, who co-sponsored the legislation. Grendell and Strickland have clashed this year over how Grendell’s committee conducted hearings on whether to confirm Strickland’s public safety director.
Grendell accused Strickland of playing “petty politics” over excluding him from the bill signing.
Strickland’s spokeswoman Allison Kolodziej fired back that: “It is sad but hardly surprising that Senator Tim Grendell would bring such vanity to bear on an issue as serious and horrifying as human trafficking. If he truly cares about this legislation, he should know it is not at all about him, but about protecting the most vulnerable members of our society.”
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By dental assistant
December 30, 2010 7:57 PM | Link to this
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