In Michigan, it is legal for police officers to have sex with prostitutes in the line of duty.
Michigan is the only remaining state in the US where it is legal for a police officer to have sex as part of a prostitution sting. There are no documented cases where an officer has abused the exemption from prosecution.
But state Representative Gary Glenn says the current situation places a cloud over law enforcement in Michigan.
“And it removes the dubious distinction from Michigan as being the last state in the country to address this.”
“We need to remove any doubt that state law is going to look as harshly as possible on any abuse of women, whether it’s prostitutes or victims of sexual trafficking.”
Glenn says there are no documented instances of law enforcement officers abusing the immunity from prosecution. But he says having it on the lawbooks is unacceptable.
“Nobody intended this exemption to exist, but once we discovered it, we needed to act to remove it.”
The bill to eliminate the exemption was first requested by the Human Trafficking Clinic at the University of Michigan Law School.