Bill Blotter: Anti-Pimp Bill Under Discussion in Nevada
April 11, 2005 — -- Nevada legislators look to make it easier to prosecute pimps; five states look at whether online dating sites should use background checks to protect users; and Missouri prisoners may lose their right to subject others to their bodily fluids.
The Nevada Legislature is considering a bill that would make it easier to arrest and prosecute pimps. As of now, a prostitute's word has not been enough -- with Nevada law requiring a third party to corroborate the story.
A third party is difficult to come by in these cases because a pimp's dirty work is not typically done in front of other witnesses.
Assembly Bill 470 was unanimously approved by the state's Assembly Judiciary Committee on April 5, and if passed by the full state legislature, would enable law enforcement officials to prosecute pimps based solely on the testimony of one prostitute.
This bill would grant the same presumption of credibility in court to prostitutes as is already granted to victims of sexual assault and child abuse.
As if dating wasn't hard enough already -- lawmakers in five states are considering legislation that would require dating Web sites to notify their paying visitors of whether or not they perform background checks on their members.
Proponents of the bills in Texas, Florida, California, Ohio and Michigan argue that virtual dating can attract real criminals and want to protect those looking for love from finding an Internet-lurking rapist or stalker instead.
Opponents say it's an invasion of users' privacy and forces online dating companies to rely on unregulated private background checks which could lead to a false sense of security for the users.
The dating site True.com, which performs criminal and marital status checks on all members, has been going state-to-state to pitch lawmakers on such a measure.
Kristin Kelly, a spokeswoman for rival site Match.com, told The Associated Press that she considers the campaign by her competitor to be "a thinly veiled PR ploy."
