Thursday, December 27, 2018
DC Decriminalizes Theft
AT AmericanThinker.com, Taylor Lewis has the story about this:
"'Decriminalization is not the same as legalization,' Council member Charles Allen argued in favor of the measure. “A criminal citation stays on your record for life. [Fare evaders] will have a criminal conviction for their rest of their life for a $2 fare.'
Allen’s argument is, unsurprisingly, overwrought. Judges can always expunge criminal records for petty offenses like this. Bypassing a $2 train charge need not be a black mark on one’s permanent record. He knows this is true but tells his lie anyway.
Council member Robert C. White, Jr., was more open about his racialist intention. Citing the fact that 91% of fare evasion perpetrators are African-American, White threw financial considerations aside, admitting, 'I’m sad that’s Metro’s losing money, but I’m more sad about what’s happening to black people.'
To be fair, the Metro is better at losing money than transporting people. The entire system is in continual financial distress. Last year, it faced a $125 million revenue shortfall due to declining ridership. Fare evasion currently costs the Metro system $25 million a year -- about half the cost of the agency’s new headquarters."
