Misdemeanors Hurt Local Economies, Poor People

Flickr/<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dwightsghost/2814882133/">dwightsghost</a>.

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


A new report from the left-leaning American Constitution Society presents a not-so-new proposal: Local and state governments that are strapped for cash should reclassify certain misdemeanors as non-criminal infractions. Robert Boruchowitz, a Seattle University law professor and the report’s author, writes that it could save the nation’s indigent defense system “hundreds of millions, perhaps more than $1 billion per year.”

The easiest place to start, Boruchowitz says, may be to ease up on poor people caught driving with licenses that were suspended for outstanding traffic fines. Also on his list are pot possessors, dog leash violators, homeless-feeders, and—a suggestion that could have saved me a headache back in college—minors in possession of alcohol.

It makes you wonder: If the benefits are so obvious, why haven’t more places already changed their laws?

Boruchowitz figures that two reasons are administrative costs and, naturally, drug-war politics. But he focuses most of his attention on programs that could serve as models for other communities. In Spokane, Washington, for instance, a new diversion program for suspended-license violators has its city prosecutor predicting a 35-percent drop in criminal charges, freeing up the court system and keeping the fine money coming.

A billion dollars nationally isn’t a whole lot of money, relatively speaking. California alone is facing a $28 billion budget deficit. But every little bit counts, and Boruchowitz’s suggestions could allow attorneys to go after more serious crimes and help keep poor people out of jail. The proposed changes might also combat racial disparities in punishment by allowing localities to ease up on crimes that are disproportionately enforced against minorities.

In January, California will provide another example for Boruchowitz to study, thanks to a bill signed in September that will reduce possession of small amounts of pot from a misdemeanor to a non-criminal infraction.

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate