Let them walk: Judge nixes 850 hooker cases at request of DA

A Brooklyn judge tossed more than 850 prostitution warrants Wednesday at the request of prosecutors in the borough.

The announcement of the dismissed warrants comes a month after the state repealed what had become known as the “walking while trans” ban, a 1970s law that made it a crime to loiter for the purpose of prostitution.

Of the 857 total warrants thrown out by Justice Keisha Espinal in Brooklyn Supreme Court on Wednesday, 561 had a top count of loitering for the purpose of prostitution, Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez said. The rest of the warrants were for engaging in prostitution.

Critics of the “walking while trans” law said it unfairly targeted women, transgender people and people of color by allowing police to arrest individuals for allegedly stopping, talking to or beckoning at others in a public place.

The race and gender makeup of the people whose warrants were thrown out Wednesday was not immediately clear.

“In the future, we hope to vacate thousands of convictions for loitering and prostitution and free those affected from the collateral consequences of a criminal record,” Gonzalez said in court Wednesday. “For today, we are moving to dismiss 857 bench warrants for individuals who either were charged with or pled guilty to prostitution or loitering for the purpose of prostitution.”

Just two months ago, Gonzalez announced he would toss 250 warrants for the same crimes, which the office no longer prosecutes.

Instead of prosecuting people charged with the crimes, the DA’s office refers them to services like counseling or housing assistance, and dismisses and seals their cases, Gonzalez said.

Queens and Bronx prosecutors asked judges to dismiss hundreds charges of loitering for the purpose of prostitution earlier this month after the law was repealed.