Manhattan will stop prosecuting prostitution and dismiss past cases
CBSN
Manhattan will stop prosecuting prostitution and unlicensed massages, District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. announced Wednesday. The district attorney's office dismissed 914 past cases under its new policy, along with 5,080 cases for loitering for the purpose of prostitution.
"Over the last decade we've learned from those with lived experience, and from our own experience on the ground: criminally prosecuting prostitution does not make us safer, and too often, achieves the opposite result by further marginalizing vulnerable New Yorkers," Vance said in a statement. "Now, we will decline to prosecute these arrests outright, providing services and supports solely on a voluntary basis." The new policy, which is believed to be the first of its kind in New York State, is an effort to prevent unnecessary "future contacts" with the criminal justice system and "empower" New Yorkers to have a healthier relationship with law enforcement without fear of jail or deportation, Vance's office said.Strong storms with damaging winds and baseball-sized hail pummeled Texas on Tuesday, leaving more than one million businesses and homes without power as much of the U.S. recovered from severe weather, including tornadoes, that killed at least 24 people in seven states during the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
Actor Richard Dreyfuss is facing backlash for allegedly sharing remarks that audience members found sexist, homophobic and generally offensive at a Q&A event over the weekend tied to a Massachusetts theater's screening of "Jaws." Dreyfuss starred in the 1975 blockbuster that was filmed in Massachusetts and screened Saturday night at The Cabot, a performing arts center in the coastal community of Beverly.
Another American who was arrested in the Turks and Caicos Islands for possessing ammunition was sentenced to time served and a $9,000 fine on Tuesday, local media reported. Tyler Wenrich was facing a potential mandatory minimum sentence of 12 years in prison for ammunition charges in the British territory.