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Jaywalking decriminalization, 100 years after the auto industry made it a crime

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Re: Jaywalking decriminalization, 100 years after the auto industry made it a crime

#51

Post by mcherm »

ravenstine wrote: post #9
rootusrootus wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I assume because of selective enforcement. The more that we make normal everyday events technically illegal, the more likely the police will have to pick and choose what they enforce and what they let slide. Then you have ample opportunity for that discretion to be applied in a discriminatory way.

Sure, but why make a specific point about that with jaywalking? Can't that argument be made for just about any crime? Just seems like a useless red herring to make it about race when it doesn't need to be; it's a related but separate issue to whether jaywalking should be a crime in the first place.

> Can't that argument be made for just about any crime?

No. The argument is only effective for crimes that a large percentage of people do frequently but which is only seldomly enforced with criminal sanctions.

And I am hard pressed to find any crime fitting that description that I would not be in favor of eliminating. I'm perfectly happy to start with jaywalking.

Re: Jaywalking decriminalization, 100 years after the auto industry made it a crime

#52

Post by jawns »

My first year of college, I was cited for jaywalking. I was walking across a barren street in our small college town on my way to class, and there was a town cop standing against a wall of a nearby building waiting for an easy catch.

I had fully crossed the street and was walking to a nearby building when I heard someone yell "Hey" behind me.

I contemplated not even turning around, because I wanted to get to class on time, but I did ... and saw the officer standing on the other side.

He didn't feel like coming to me, so he instructed me to re-cross the street back to him.

"Are you sure you want me to jaywalk back?" I asked. "Isn't that dangerous?"

He rolled his eyes and gave me the ticket.

Re: Jaywalking decriminalization, 100 years after the auto industry made it a crime

#53

Post by tenebrisalietum »

dls2016 wrote: post #30

Can we do shoplifting next? Make it a civil offense like wage theft?

Depriving others of their property without their permission is generally seen as a bad thing and worthy of self-defense actions. Theft should be a crime.

I understand leniency if a hungry person is stealing food.

Why not make wage theft a criminal offense?

Re: Jaywalking decriminalization, 100 years after the auto industry made it a crime

#54

Post by toomuchtodo »

bigcorp-slave wrote: post #41
dls2016 wrote: post #30

Can we do shoplifting next? Make it a civil offense like wage theft?

Christ, why? Have you see what decriminalization of street crime has done to San Francisco? It’s a disaster.

Decriminalization without functioning social work infra is this result. Just because SF is incompetent in this regard does not mean continued criminalization of minor offenses should continue.

There’s nuance, and that nuance is critical to the discussion.

Re: Jaywalking decriminalization, 100 years after the auto industry made it a crime

#55

Post by klyrs »

jimbob45 wrote: post #12
rafram wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s a minor crime which people of color tend to be disproportionately cited for.

Isn’t the real causation here that they’re lower class? I would imagine high-class blacks don’t often get ticketed for jaywalking. Lower-class people tend to walk more for reasons related to expensive car maintenance. Are blacks more often lower-class? Sure, but that’s a different issue entirely.

It would be foolish to deny that stratification of classes is not reinforced by selective enforcement. However, cases such as Henry Louis Gates's arrest show that even the rich are not immune to racial profiling.

Re: Jaywalking decriminalization, 100 years after the auto industry made it a crime

#56

Post by happytoexplain »

annexrichmond wrote: post #46
dls2016 wrote: post #30

Can we do shoplifting next? Make it a civil offense like wage theft?

I can't tell if this is sarcasm or not.

I would sympathize with your confusion if it were just the first half of the post, but the second half makes it obvious that it is a sincere suggestion (and a reasonable one).

Re: Jaywalking decriminalization, 100 years after the auto industry made it a crime

#59

Post by dls2016 »

bigcorp-slave wrote: post #41
dls2016 wrote: post #30

Can we do shoplifting next? Make it a civil offense like wage theft?

Christ, why? Have you see what decriminalization of street crime has done to San Francisco? It’s a disaster.

Simple: give the homeless houses.

Re: Jaywalking decriminalization, 100 years after the auto industry made it a crime

#60

Post by castis »

hk__2 wrote: post #14

This is what I get from France: > This site not available in your country I wonder what makes that website so special it can’t comply with GDPR.

It's a wordpress installation containing news for Virginia in the US. No one outside this area is the target market.
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