Seattle City Council passes SODA and SOAP ban bills despite public outcry | September 25 – October 1, 2024

On Tuesday, September 23, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell signed two controversial ordinances, known as Stay Out of Drug Areas (SODA) and Stay out of Areas of Prostitution (SOAP), intended to address concerns surrounding public drug use and sex work. . The Seattle City Council passed SOAP and SODA on a 8-1 vote on September 17. The laws will allow judges to issue orders barring people accused of drug- or prostitution-related crimes from entering specific areas in the city.

The measures, which were hotly debated last summer, were met with significant opposition from community members and civil rights groups who expressed concerns about the laws’ impact. In interviews with Real Change, activists argued that these exclusion orders would revive the failed “tough on crime” policies of the 1990s and 2000s and serve as a green light for police to engage in profiling and racially biased policing.

The SOAP zone includes all of Aurora Avenue North between North 85th and 145th Street and extends a few blocks east and west.

Meanwhile, the SODA zones have become more extensive. Initially, only two parts of the city were designated as SODAs: Westlake and Little Saigon in the Chinatown region.
International District (CID). At the September 10 City Council Public Safety Committee meeting, council members approved several amendments adding new SODA zones in Belltown, Pioneer Square, U District and Capitol Hill. The municipality also significantly expanded the CID SODA zone.

A Seattle Municipal Court (SMC) judge can issue a SODA warrant to anyone charged or convicted of possession or public use of prohibited drugs. A SODA warrant can also be issued to people accused of assault, harassment, theft, criminal trespass, destruction of property, or unlawful use or possession of weapons in a SODA zone. If a police officer encounters a person in a designated area who has received such a warrant, that person may be charged with a gross misdemeanor and subject to a fine of up to $5,000 and 364 days in jail. By default, a SODA order expires after two years; however, this may be changed with the consent of the SMC.

The SOAP legislation recriminalizes “loitering for prostitution,” which was eliminated in 2020 due to concerns about racist enforcement practices against Black, Brown and Indigenous people. A SOAP order works similarly to SODA, except it applies to people accused of purchasing sexual services or promoting prostitution. A judge can also grant a SOAP warrant to anyone accused of committing a crime in the Aurora Avenue North SOAP zone if a “court finds a connection between the crime and prostitution-related crimes.”

After facing opposition, lead sponsor Councilmember Cathy Moore amended her legislation to exempt sex workers from receiving SOAP orders. Moore’s amendment also requires the Seattle Police Department (SPD) to develop best practices and provide training to its officers on how to interact with sex workers and survivors of sex trafficking. According to the amended wording, the SPD is instructed to divert sex workers from criminal prosecution in cases of suspected loitering in prostitution and not to arrest them if there are no diversion options. On September 24, Harrell announced $2 million in his office’s proposed 2025-2026 budget for diversion programs for “survivors of commercial sexual exploitation.”

More than a hundred community members testified about the two bills during the council meeting. Some, including Sarah Ann Hamilton, the director of survivor services at the nonprofit The More We Love, argued that SOAP would help survivors of sex trafficking.

However, it seemed that most people who participated in the council’s public comment period were highly critical of SODA and SOAP. One of them, JM Wong – a member of the advocacy group Massage Parlor Outreach Project – warned councilors that voters will remember how they voted.

“You will be remembered for your actions in this watershed legislation,” Wong said. “You know this will cause a ripple effect across the region, exacerbating the climate of anti-homelessness and the racist war on drugs and further criminalizing sex workers. You join the tide of racist politicians who sacrifice human lives for the sake of real estate and corporate power. It is clear to us that you govern in their interests, not ours. I trust Wikipedia pages will forever document you for your disregard for human life with these quick fixes and false solutions. You still have time to rewrite this legacy.”

The SOAP and SODA regulations will come into force 30 days after signing, on October 23.

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Read more about the September 25 – October edition. 1, issue 2024.