Brooklyn judge dismisses hundreds of prostitution-related warrants at DA's request
NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- A Brooklyn judge on Wednesday dismissed hundreds of outstanding prostitution-related warrants at the request of Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez.
Brooklyn Criminal Court Supervising Judge Keisha Espinal vacated 857 warrants on Wednesday, 296 of which were prostitution-related and 561 of which were related to loitering "for the purposes of prostitution," Gonzalez' office said in a press release.
Some of the warrants dated back to 1970, the release noted.
"With today's action, we have cleared all open prostitution and loitering for the purposes of prostitution cases in Brooklyn," Gonzalez said in a statement. "My office no longer prosecutes these offenses because we believe that those who engage in these activities should be offered assistance, not criminally prosecuted."
"Open warrants have powerful negative consequences for the individual, and they undermine public safety," he added. "Someone with an open warrant is subject to arrest at any time, making them more likely to be driven underground and less likely to report abuse or other crimes, which makes both them and others less safe."
Two other counties, the Bronx and Queens also dismissed all of their outstanding prostitution and loitering-related warrants, the release noted.
The dismissals came after Gov. Andrew Cuomo at the beginning of February signed a bill repealing a piece of legislation known as the "Walking While Trans" law, which activists said allowed police officers to stop-and-frisk and arrest transgender people for decades.
