(Further) down the drain

Seattle proposes decriminalizing all misdemeanors.

Christopher Rufo, City Journal:

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 powerbrokers.

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, councilmembers 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 decriminalization has been tabled, for now, but it’s sure to be back, because the people who have made Seattle a hell hole of homeless camps and beggar gauntlets will have it no other way.