Criminalization of poverty
The criminalization of poverty refers to the systemic practices and policies that disproportionately penalize individuals for behaviors associated with their economic status. This phenomenon manifests through various legal and social mechanisms that enforce penalties on those who are unable to meet basic needs due to poverty, leading to a cycle of criminalization and further marginalization.{{cite book |last1=Larrison |first1=Christopher R. |title=Social Work, Criminal Justice, and the Death Penalty |date=2020 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-19-093723-2 |edition=1st |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/31900/chapter-abstract/267572177?login=false |language=en |chapter=The Criminalization of Poverty}}{{cite book |last1=Edelman |first1=Peter |title=The Routledge Companion to Media and Poverty |chapter=Criminalization of Poverty: Fines, Fees, Money Bail and Much More |date=2022 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |isbn=9780429291333 |edition=1st |pages=11 |doi=10.4324/9780429291333-37 |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429291333-37/criminalization-poverty-peter-edelman}} Examples include fines and fees that the person is unable to pay,{{cite journal |last1=Pager |first1=Devah |last2=Goldstein |first2=Rebecca |last3=Ho |first3=Helen |last4=Western |first4=Bruce |title=Criminalizing Poverty: The Consequences of Court Fees in a Randomized Experiment |journal=American Sociological Review |date=2022 |volume=87 |issue=3 |pages=529–553 |doi=10.1177/00031224221075783|s2cid=247038184 }} anti-homelessness laws and actions,{{cite journal |last1=Herring |first1=Chris |last2=Yarbrough |first2=Dilara |last3=Marie Alatorre |first3=Lisa |title=Pervasive Penality: How the Criminalization of Poverty Perpetuates Homelessness |journal=Social Problems |date=2019 |volume=67 |issue=1 |pages=131–149 |doi=10.1093/socpro/spz004}} and interconnections between welfare and criminal law.{{cite journal |last1=Gustafson |first1=Kaaryn |title=The Criminalization of Poverty |journal=Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology |date=2008–2009 |volume=99 |issue=3 |pages=643 |url=https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/jclc/vol99/iss3/5/}}
In the United States
In 2024, the United States Supreme Court held in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson that an ordinances that criminalized camping on public property was constitutional.
In 2025, the Fremont, California city council voted to criminalize ‘aiding’ and ‘abetting’ homeless camps.{{Cite web |title=California city criminalizes ‘aiding’ and ‘abetting’ homeless camps {{!}} CNN |url=https://lite.cnn.com/2025/02/12/us/fremont-california-homeless-encampment-ban/index.html |access-date=2025-03-09 |website=lite.cnn.com}}{{Cite news |last=Kendall |first=Marisa |date=2025-02-13 |title=California city makes ‘aiding’ or ‘abetting’ a homeless camp illegal |url=https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2025/02/fremont-camping-ban-ordinance-folo/ |access-date=2025-03-09 |work=CalMatters |language=en-US}} The ordinance was later revised removing the clause that could have punished those “aiding and abetting” encampments.{{Cite news |last=Procter |first=Richard |date=2025-03-05 |title=Bay Area city backs down after proposing ban on 'aiding and abetting' homeless encampments |url=https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2025/03/fremont-camping-ordinance-clause-removal/ |access-date=2025-03-09 |work=CalMatters |language=en-US}}
See also
References
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Further reading
- {{cite arXiv |last1=Curto |first1=Goergina |last2=Kiritchenko |first2=Svetlana |last3=Nejadgholi |first3=Isar |last4=Fraser |first4=Kathleen C. |title=The crime of being poor |date=2023 |class=cs.CL |eprint=2303.14128}}
- {{cite book |last1=Edelman |first1=Peter |title=Not a Crime to Be Poor: The Criminalization of Poverty in America |date=2019 |publisher=The New Press |isbn=978-1-62097-553-4 }}
- {{cite book |last1=Gustafson |first1=Kaaryn S. |title=Cheating Welfare: Public Assistance and the Criminalization of Poverty |date=2011 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=978-0-8147-3291-5 |language=en |jstor=j.ctt9qfttq}}
- {{cite book |last1=Wacquant |first1=Loïc |title=Punishing the Poor: The Neoliberal Government of Social Insecurity |date=2009 |publisher=Duke University Press |location=Durham |isbn=978-0-8223-4422-3}}