Bipartisan support for anti-sex trafficking bill is encouraging

In an age of partisan politics, it's good to know politicians can stand united on at least one front.

A bi-partisan group of senators, including both Missouri Senators Claire McCaskill (Democrat) and Roy Blunt (Republican), are confronting the sex trafficking of women and children by introducing legislation to remove the "immunity" an online site has used to hinder investigations.

McCaskill has been at the point of a bi-partisan attack, leading an inquiry with Republican Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio into the operations of Backpage.com, a website viewed by many as a major player in child sex trafficking and one which has been accused of using federal laws to avoid prosecution.

Last week, the Southeast Missourian's Mark Bliss partook in a reporter conference call with McCaskill, one in which she vigorously endorsed the legislation and called out the website.

"It will prevent Backpage from inappropriately hiding behind a federal law that they have used to try to keep information out of the hands of criminal prosecutors and others who want to hold them accountable," McCaskill told the reporters. She added that the legislation also is aimed at other online sites that engage in such activities.

In a hint of its intended action on legislation, the Senate approved a resolution that would allow the documents gathered in the investigation to be made available to criminal prosecutors.

We have but one word on that: "Hallelujah."

It will facilitate the effort by Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley, who is investigating Backpage. He stated in a federal court filing that there is compelling evidence the website "both creates and controls content of online ads for the sexual exploitation and rape of human-trafficking victims, including minors."

Backpage cites the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which protects Internet sites from civil or criminal claims based on content created by a third party.

Technologically speaking, 1996 was about 100 years ago. One thing we all have learned over the past 21 years about the Internet is that there is a lot of smoke and mirrors. Between lagging laws and loopholes, savvy computer-minded people can do a lot of damage anonymously, whether it be through hacking, viruses or deception. It's obvious people with good intentions do not have a monopoly on technology. Criminals thrive in cyberspace, and they also have lawyers.

Backpage has tried to short-circuit the probe through a U.S. federal court, claiming Hawley has acted in "bad faith."

So they would prefer acting in "good faith?" They would prefer such things as morals and integrity?

Let's cut through the hiding and games and get to the point. Human trafficking is among the most egregious and criminal violation of rights, period. It has no place in this society or any other, period. It is not tolerated on the streets, nor should this deplorable atrocity be tolerated in any capacity in cyberspace, period. The people who promote and profit from it need to be brought to justice, and if the laws are not in place to do so, then they need to be adjusted accordingly.

Laws are in place to protect people of this country and their rights. To hide criminal behavior and avoiding prosecution through loopholes or the pretense of rights is audacious and makes a mockery of our legal and judicial systems.

We need updated legislation to clarify the law and deal with those bent on circumvention, and that mindset appears to be crossing the aisles on this topic. The bill is co-sponsored by 13 Republicans and nine Democrats.

Congress appears to agree on one thing. We hope that's just the start.