California Democrats are taking heat for "water[ing] down" a "child sex trafficking bill." But—as anyone whose brain isn't completely broken by politics might imagine—this isn't a case of lawmakers trying to make life easy for people who abuse and exploit children. They're just trying to insert a smidge of sanity into the bill's punishment schemes. The scorn with which this has been met underscores how hard it is for legislators to push back against policies that are purportedly about protecting children.
