Montana AG Joins 49 Other States In Asking Congress to Amend Sex Trafficking Law

Back in 1996, the United States Congress passed a law called the Communications Decency Act. It was intended back then to protect kids from accessing indecent material online. According to Attorney general Tim Fox, federal law has made it difficult to investigate and prosecute criminals that have utilized the internet for sex trafficking.

“I joined 49 other state and territorial attorneys general this week in sending a letter to leaders in congress asking them to make a real simple amendment to the Communications Decency Act that makes it clear that the states and territories still have criminal jurisdiction to investigate and if appropriate, prosecute individuals who use the internet for criminal purposes,” said Fox.

Fox says they sent a similar letter in 2013 and still have not gotten Congress to act on their request.

“We want to make one simple change that does away with the argument that federal law preempts state law and prohibits us from investigating these crimes, but others want to make other changes,” Fox said. “Often times everybody jumps on the bandwagon and then it becomes very political and difficult to get anything done.”

Fox advocates that this simple word addition will help ensure that everyone is effectively protected throughout the entire country, in all courts.