"When Gov. Brian Sandoval signed AB 67 into law on June 6, the volunteers celebrated ...The anti-trafficking campaign wasn't the first time that area faith communities joined forces to work toward a common social or political goal.

However, ...the number of religious congregations represented by the group, the number of people who participated in it and the interdenominational makeup of the effort made the campaign something Southern Nevadans hadn't seen before...."

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"Polk County Attorney John Sarcone accuses AMOS of distortion and grossly misleading people about juvenile justice in our county

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Governor Brian Sandoval signed ground breaking anti-sex trafficking legislation in the presence of 'Nevadans for the Common Good.' Leaders had fought hard to crack down on the pimps that recruit young people into prostitution, including organizing assemblies, press conferences and legislative visits to Carson City. Said Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto, "Nevadans for the Common Good have been a driving force behind this bill."

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"Cy was a choir director, community leader and maker of fine clocks. When I knew him, he was 80 years old and lay leader of the church I served. One snowy morning, he came to my office and simply said, 'We have to go to Albert Lea.' I said, 'That is in Minnesota, and they have lots of snow.'

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Leaders from 'Nevadans for the Common Good' launched "It's About Time," a film documenting domestic minor sex-trafficking in Vegas and broad-based community efforts to combat it.

It's About Time, Nevadans for the Common Good

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'Nevadans for the Common Good' leaders Andrea Swanson and Camille Naaktgeboren testified before the Assembly and Senate judiciary committees for Assembly Bill 67.

"You take a domestic violence abuser, you take a rapist and you take a child abuser and you put them all in one and you have a pimp," said Andrea Swanson, who told a packed legislative hearing room about how her 18-year-old daugher was swept from her into a life of sex trafficking.

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David and his wife, Barbara Paulsen, are part of a group of about 40 volunteers flying and driving to the state capital, where they will lobby the Legislature to toughen the state's sex-trafficking laws. They want to make it easier to prosecute violent pimps and impose stiffer penalties while helping victims of the Las Vegas sex trade get treatment...

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"A Mid-Iowa Organizing Strategy (AMOS) has successfully gotten a Court Watcher program off the ground in Polk County....Like similar programs around the country, the goal is to witness the criminal justice system in action. The presence of an outsider in a courtroom signals to judges, prosecutors and others that the community cares about how its government is treating citizens when they find themselves in trouble with the law."

30 AMOS leaders "attended the first court watcher training ...in Des Moines earlier this month. Another 30 are scheduled to go through training soon. The Rev. Denny Coon, pastor of Walnut Hills United Methodist Church in Urbandale, said his first experience as an observer was enlightening but somewhat troubling...."

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As Andrea Swanson described how her teenage daughter was preyed upon by her boyfriend turned pimp, it became clear that neither Andrea nor her daughter's teachers or school counselors had spotted any of the warning signs. After NCG Leaders met with Las Vegas police and other authorities, they learned that child sex trafficking is a growing problem. But, NCG's organizing work is bringing about much needed change. The Clark County School District recently instituted mandatory trainings for their staff to spot the warning signs and NCG leaders are now working on statewide legislation that would give law enforcement the tools to protect children and prosecute pimps.

More here.