Not a Crime to Be Poor, by Peter Edelman

Peter Edelman's Not a Crime to Be Poor: The Criminalization of Poverty in America is a sobering call to action.  Edleman, who I knew of as the guy who resigned from the Clinton administration in protest over the 1996 welfare reforms, has served in other roles in government and currently teaches at Georgetown's law school.

Edelman is on the left, clearly.  But Not a Crime to Be Poor is a book that should have broad bi-partisan appeal.  Contrary to popular opinion, many on the right care about the poor, too, and will agree with much of the case Edelman makes.  I have only been tangentially aware of some of the issues he addresses.  Our legal system will often issue insignificant citations for minor violations, then, if someone can't pay, throw them in jail.  It's a ridiculous and tragic cycle.  Child support is one of the worst examples.  If a father falls behind on child support, he can be imprisoned, where he has an even more difficult time paying.  Then, with a prison record, he will struggle to find a job, and, again, can't pay what they owe.  On top of all that, many prisoners accrue charges for the privilege of staying in prison!  Millions of prisoners "owe a total of $50 billion in accumulated fines, costs, fees, charges for room and board in jails and prisons, and other impositions."

If someone is arrested for even a petty crime, but can't afford to pay bail, he or she might be put in prison awaiting trial.  In many jails, the majority of prisoners have not been convicted of anything, and many more "are there for nonviolent traffic and other low-level offenses." Not only do these stays in prison negatively impact the lives of those who can't afford bail, but it costs billions to keep all of them in jail.  "Rich people make bail; poor people don't.  Regardless of actual guilt or innocence, poor people are criminalized for their inability to buy their way out of jail."

There are clear problems with the criminalization of poverty, and Edelman's work is important as it sheds light on the issue.  His solutions are practical and should be heeded by policy makers without regard to partisanship.  I was disappointed, but not surprised, by the bitter partisanship that detracts from Edelman's message.  He makes much of the fact that, in many cases, minorities are more deeply affected by some of these policies.  But I think he takes too quick a step from effect to intent.  He attributes racist motives to policies that impact African Americans, a presumptuous and ungracious leap that hinders bipartisan exchange.

Even worse are incendiary statements like, "Walter Scott of North Charleston, South Carolina, died because he could not pay his child support." No, he died because an overzealous policeman shot Scott as Scott was running away.  He was running because he knew he owed child support, but, no, he was not shot because he owed child support.  Edelman's partisanship shows itself in his contempt for the Trump administration.  Of Ben Carson he writes, "We have a man running the Department of Housing and Urban Development . . . who knows absolutely nothing about the importance of the agency he heads."  He says voters in 2016 "allowed our country to fall into the hands of people who stand only for their own interests and emphatically oppose the justice--economic and racial--for which so many of us have struggled for so long."  Rather than advocate for change in Washington, Edelman chooses to embrace the media's unfair caricature of the Trump administration.  With this tone, he comes across less as a serious, compassionate agent of change than as a screeching, partisan whiner who loves to tout data and describe the problem but is not interested in actually implementing change.


Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!