Is Poverty A Crime? How Can We Remove Laws That Punish The Poor?

The Europeans who founded the United States of America came from a system in England in which poverty was literally punished by imprisonment. If you couldn’t pay your debts you wound up in “debtors prison.” Soon the jails were so full, the government had to find a way to let some people out. The offer was made to either remain in jail or go and settle the new colony in America, “the new world.” And thus, the U.S.A. was born. It’s founders recreated the same system of punishing the poor for their poverty. This is morally wrong. Today we are crafting the wording on a piece of legislation to be introduced on the State and Federal level, that removes the punishment of jail or prison from any offense resulting from poverty. No jailing someone for unpaid fees, fines, child support, loitering (standing around with no place to go because they are homeless) driving without a car sticker or insurance (because they can’t afford to pay for it), or selling merchandise without a peddler’s license (such as Eric Gardner, choked to death in New York for selling loose cigarettes). How do we enable people to live without fear of public humiliation because they lack the money to pay? Let’s create a law ensuring the right to humane treatment of all people.