Most misdemeanors in Massachusetts can be decriminalized simply by asking that they not be treated as crimes, or even just at the whim of the judge.
It's my opening bid in most minor criminal cases--bc why wouldn't it be--and every time it works it feels like actual magic.
It's my opening bid in most minor criminal cases--bc why wouldn't it be--and every time it works it feels like actual magic.
To name only one benefit: the difference between a criminal drug conviction and a civil drug infraction can be life-changing for US citizens, and life-*saving* for non-citizens for whom even the smallest possession case means mandatory denial of residency and deportation
This 26-yr-old statute is far from perfect. It still excludes offenses relating to sex work, operating under the influence, etc from decriminalization--and decriminalization itself is just a band-aid against so many things which shouldn't be arrestable offenses in the first place
Normalizing decriminalization--first as a legal option, then as a routine resolution--is only an incremental step toward an actual justice system, but it's a big one. Meaningful abolition of is simply not going to be possible while so many arrestable offenses remain on the books
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