In October, the Seattle City Council floated legislation to provide
an exemption from prosecution for misdemeanor crimes for any citizen who
suffers from poverty, homelessness, addiction, or mental illness. Under
the proposed ordinance, courts would have to dismiss all so-called
“crimes of poverty”—which,
according
to the city’s former public-safety advisor, would cover more than 90
percent of all misdemeanor cases citywide. In effect, the legislation
would create a new class of “untouchables,” protected from consequences
by the city’s pawnbrokers.
This is the latest and most brazen effort in the city’s campaign to establish what
might be called a “reverse hierarchy of oppression.” The underlying
theory is that society has condemned the lower class to a life of
poverty and stigma, which leads to addiction, madness, and indigence.
The poor, in the logic of Seattle’s progressive elites, are thus forced
to commit crimes—including violent crimes—to secure their very
existence. Therefore, as society is the perpetrator of this inequality,
the crimes of the poor must be forgiven. The crimes are transformed into
an expression of social justice.
On a practical level, if this ordinance becomes law, it will
effectively legalize an entire spectrum of misdemeanor crimes, including
theft, assault, harassment, drug possession, property destruction, and
indecent exposure. Criminals must simply establish that they have an
addiction, mental-health disorder, or low income in order to evade
justice. The impact of this measure would be enormous. In 2019, the
Seattle Police Department reported
25,993 thefts, 8,442 assaults, 6,430 property offenses, 4,194 frauds,
3,910 trespasses, and 1,640 narcotics violations—representing 72 percent
of all reported crimes. If the ordinance passes, nearly all these
crimes would be permitted under law.
The courts, for their part, would be eviscerated. The “crimes of
poverty” legislation would nearly eliminate the caseload for nine out of
ten of the most frequently
filed criminal charges in the Seattle Municipal Court. The objective
here is twofold. First, council members believe that mass
decriminalization is a good in itself. Second, it almost certainly
represents a strategy to “starve the beast” and create a rationale for
dramatically downsizing the court system. Seattle’s activist coalition
has long argued
that the courts are a bastion of racism and oppression. Political
leaders have sought to replace traditional courts with social justice
and rehabilitation programs, especially for “crimes of poverty.”
The consequence of this measure is predictable. By dramatically
reducing penalties for theft, assault, drug crime, and property crime,
the city would effectively announce, “crime pays here.” With at least 90
percent of the jail population able to claim dispensation for
indigence, addiction, and mental illness, the city’s criminal class
could operate with impunity. Seattle’s downtown, already besieged by
tent encampments and an addiction-fueled crime boom, would become a
free-for-all.
Lisa Herbold, the city councilwoman who proposed the legislation,
must have known that it would be controversial. Though she chairs the
council’s Public Safety Committee, she attempted to launder the
ordinance through the budgetary process, under the justification that it
would reduce the cost of court proceedings and jail usage. During a
five-minute presentation buried in an hours-long budget hearing,
Herbold framed her argument in social justice terms, claiming that
“poverty, institutionalized racism, and systemic oppression are root
causes that lead to mass incarceration” and that “punishment and
incarceration are harmful and ineffective tools to address behaviors
triggered by poverty and illness.” Neither questions from other council members nor public comment was permitted.
Fortunately, a local watchdog organization flagged the proposal and raised an alarm in the media. After negative coverage on television and on the op-ed page of the Seattle Times, Herbold relented, agreeing
to drop the proposal from the budget process and resubmit it through
the Public Safety Committee later this year. Though the legislation has
been wounded, it is not dead. Seattle’s political class has been working
toward mass decriminalization for years and will almost certainly
continue to press for it. Seattle residents should remain vigilant, lest
their public officials create a criminal class impervious to law or
punishment.
Christopher F. Rufo
is a contributing editor of City Journal and director of the Discovery
Institute’s Center on Wealth & Poverty. He’s directed four
documentaries for PBS, including his new film, America Lost, which tells the story of three “forgotten American cities.” Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
Photo by Karen Ducey/Getty Images
