Brooklyn District Attorney To Vacate All Prostitution Warrants

BROOKLYN, NY — More than 1,000 open cases for prostitution and loitering for prostitution will be cleared from the books in Brooklyn, the district attorney announced.

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said Friday that his office will vacate all open bench warrants related to prostitution and loitering for the purposes of prostitution, two charges that his office recently stopped prosecuting in an effort to keep sex workers out of the criminal justice system.

The plan includes about 1,112 total warrants dating back to the 1970s, including a first batch of 262 warrants spanning back to 2012 that the office vacated this week.

Gonzalez said the plan is a natural step from his decision to no longer prosecute prostitution and related loitering charges. Since 2020, he has instead referred those arrested for engaging in prostitution to services and dismisses their cases.

“These warrants have powerful negative consequences for the individual, and they undermine public safety," Gonzalez said. "Because someone with an open warrant is subject to arrest at any time, those engaged in the selling of sex are more likely to be driven underground and be less likely to report abuse or other crimes, which makes both them and others less safe. An outstanding warrant could show up years after it was issued in a background check for an apartment rental or a job application, hamstringing someone’s ability to move on from their past to a more stable and less dangerous way of life."

Gonzalez called on New York State to expunge past prostitution convictions and to repeal the law that prohibits what is known as "loitering for the purposes of prostitution," which he says is vague, creates racial inequality in its enforcement and disproportionately harms trans women.

In Brooklyn, that would include 25,575 convictions covering both offenses, dating back to 1975.

Instead of prosecuting those arrested for engaging in prostitution, the Brooklyn DA has worked to connect them with services including therapeutic counseling, medical assistance and checkups, educational services, housing assistance, mental health or substance abuse screening and therapy and legal assistance with immigration, children’s services or family court issues.

Whether they accept services or not, the cases are dismissed. The DA's office prosecuted less than 30 prostitution cases last year.

Gonzalez said the remaining 850 cases between 2011 and 1970s will be dismissed as soon as it is safe to access the records, which are archived and barred by the coronavirus pandemic.