Attorney Michael Kiselica waits to testify on behalf of four sex workers.

The Providence Journal / Connie Grosch

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A bill to close a nearly 30-year-old loophole in the state’s prostitution law that has allowed brothels to operate legally in Rhode Island cleared its first hurdle Tuesday night.

The House Judiciary Committee voted 11 to 3 to criminally charge prostitutes who work in brothels or out of their homes the same way as those who ply their trade on the streets. The bill, fashioned as a compromise between the House and Senate, would make indoor prostitution a misdemeanor crime, but empower judges to erase any record of charges for convicted prostitutes after one year.

The bill now heads for debate on the House floor Wednesday; the Senate, which meets Thursday, must approve an identical bill for it to become law.

The committee’s approval followed nearly three hours of testimony by about 20 people, roughly split between supporters and opponents.

Among those who spoke in favor of the bill (S-596 Sub B) were representatives of the governor’s office, the state police, the attorney general’s office and the state police chiefs association.

“Rhode Island should not be the only state in the country, outside of certain counties in Nevada, to support indoor prostitution,” Assistant Attorney General Bethany Macktaz testified.

Representatives from the Rhode Island Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union and several victims advocacy groups including the Rhode Island Coalition Against Human Trafficking, DARE (Direct Action for Rights And Equality) and a Providence lawyer who represents owners of Asian spas in the state spoke against the bill.

Lawyer Michael Kiselica said that he was enlisted by four of his clients to testify at the hearing on their behalf because they did not want to appear before the television and news cameras. If the bill outlawing indoor prostitution becomes law, he said, it will force brothels around the state to shut down, leaving the women jobless and unable to support their families.

“Some of them have bought houses,” he said. “If these people suddenly become unemployed, what’s going to happen? ... Will they be allowed to collect unemployment?”

Laura Pisaturo, director of advocacy and legal services for Day One, a resource center for victims of sexual assault and trauma, asked the committee to consider amending the bill to remove any jail time for convicted prostitutes, whom they view as victims.

The bill treats prostitution differently from other nonviolent misdemeanor crimes, which can be erased or expunged only for a first offender, and then, generally only after five years. An exception is domestic-violence first offenders, who can get their records erased after three years.

Rep. Joanne M. Giannini, D-Providence, the House bill’s sponsor, said that the decision to include an expungement clause was a concession to the Senate, which had opposed any criminal penalties for first offenders.

However, Sen. Paul V. Jabour, D-Providence, the Senate bill’s sponsor, on Monday said that he was willing to compromise on the expungement provision, suggesting that it might have to be limited to first offenders.

The bill that the House Judiciary Committee approved Tuesday punishes first offenders with fines of $250 to $1,000 and up to six months in prison, or both; multiple offenders would face up to a year in prison.

Customers, or johns, would face fines of $500 to $1,000 and up to a year in prison, or both. The bill offers no provision to allow a judge to expunge the record of the johns.

Landlords who knowingly profit from prostitution on their property also would, for first offenses, face fines of $2,000 to $5,000, and one to five years in prison. Multiple offenders would face fines of $5,000 to $10,000, and 3 to 10 years in prison.

“Does this [bill] mean prostitution will be eliminated forever in Rhode Island?” Rep. Giannini asked during testimony. “Of course not … But it will mean police will no longer be powerless” to investigate and prosecute indoor prostitution.

Governor Carcieri, Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch and the state police superintendent, Col. Brendan P. Doherty, signed letters dated Oct. 27 in support of the compromise bill to House Speaker William J. Murphy and Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed.

“It is common knowledge that the legislative intent, more than two decades ago, was to tighten the penalties on prostitution,” the letter reads, in part. “The intent was certainly not to drive prostitutes, their johns and pimps indoors, or to create a safe haven for this industry.”

The dissenting votes were cast by Representatives Rodney D. Driver, D-Richmond; David A. Segal, D-Providence; and Edith H. Ajello, D-Providence.

Driver failed to get an amendment introduced to spell out the “assessment protocol” for determining whether the prostitutes were being forced or coerced into prostitution, and to provide them with victims’ services and job training.

After the vote on the prostitution bill, the committee unanimously approved a separate bill to strengthen the laws against human trafficking, in part by expanding the law to cover trafficking for forced labor. The bill includes a provision to create a task force to determine whether human trafficking for commercial sex exists in the state and to what extent.

Giannini said Tuesday that a bill will be introduced on the House floor Wednesday to ban anyone younger than 18 from working in any capacity in clubs that offer adult entertainment.

larditi@projo.com