Michigan cops can no longer legally have sex with prostitutes while on duty

Michigan cops can no longer legally have sex with prostitutes while on duty.

Yes, you read that right.

Until now, Michigan was believed to be the only state in the country that still had a legal exemption for law enforcement officers who have intercourse with prostitutes during an undercover investigation. But thanks to the agitation of a University of Michigan law professor who heads the school's Human Trafficking Clinic, bills to stop the practice were introduced earlier this year in both the House and Senate.

Governor Rick Snyder signed those bill into law today. House Bill 4355, sponsored by Republican Rep. Gary Glenn, and Senate Bill 275, sponsored by Republican Sen. Judy Emmons, amend Michigan's penal code to clarify that the immunity given to law enforcement officers from prosecution for certain prostitution-related offenses does not apply if the officer engages in sexual acts while on duty.

“These bills help ensure the ongoing integrity and accountability of our law enforcement system," Snyder said in a release.

The Senate bill passed unanimously, while the House bill passed 91-17. Some House Democrats had voted against the bill earlier in the year, after an amendment that would have expanded the ban to include any sexual contact and not just "penetration" was shot down.

Michigan State Police did not come out as for or against the bills, but did say that undercover officers never exercised their immunity and that they were never told to have with sex workers to help further an investigation.