Is Social Justice A Bad Deal For Poor?

The economic & human costs of protecting criminals while treating cops like suspects & lawbreakers as victims is a “bad deal for taxpayers & esp the poor”, argues Jason Riley, but don’t tell that to progressives.

One stat cited by the columnist as a for instance: “Last year, 327 career criminals were responsible for 30% of New York City’s 22K shoplifting arrests …” And, “guess what,” said an exasperated NYPD official who announced the findings at a recent press conference: “Two hundred thirty-five of them ... are walking around the streets of New York right now.”

Of course, Mr. Riley, a black man, & many big city dwellers are getting tired of seeing sentencing & bail-reform legislation enacted by lawmakers” in various state capitals as they shoot for “social justice” but shoot their poorest constituents in the proverbial foot. “There’s little doubt these policies, promoted in the name of social justice for the poor, result in more crimes being committed by people who otherwise would be behind bars.” Progressives will insist Mr. Riley & other critics are citing “low level” crime stats. But, not always so, he fires back. Riley cites a national survey of large businesses showing retailers suffered nearly $100 BILLION in thefts in 2022, up more than 26% from, the previous year. Meanwhile, a Pacific Institute for Research & Evaluation “conservatively” pegged the yearly cost of personal & property crimes in the US at $2.6 TRILLION while a U of Chicago study estimated the amount spent on crime prevention & corrections in the nation is about $250 BILLION. Those are pretty high-level crime stats in any reasonable person’s book, no?

Davd Soul