Baltimore copies The Wire Season 3 - Will no longer prosecute drug possession crimes or prostitution

Damn, Jimmy.

What was amazing to me was this wasn't even on the front page of the paper. It was like on page 3 - small article. What? On page 1, they had an article where everyone was irate that an unpaid advisor to the governor - the former CDC head - said he thought that Covid-19 escaped from a CHinese lab.

They were already not prosecuting them, this just makes it official.

“This must be one of them contrapment things.”

My brother did a surgical trauma fellowship at Baltimore Shock Trauma about a decade ago. He said it was like being back in Afghanistan: razor wire, 50 icu beds always filled with gun shot wounds. Just a horrible place to live.

So Baltimore has simply accepted that a certain demographic of its population is simply incapable of obeying laws or living in civilized society, so they've given up. How wonderful. What's next? How long before all expectations for this demographic are removed entirely and they're simply given a weekly check like that other demographic in the US? BTW, how well is that system working out?

2nd amendment

Bigger picture.....

First, I know the masses will get up in arms about as soon as the word "drugs" begins to cross their proverbial periphery. Unfortunately, this just leads to a false-start on any meaningful conversation about the matter.

Much of the opposition is comprised of those born somewhere btwn me parents' generation and my own, who were simultaneously inundated with news footage of tanks taking down single family homes in Los Angeles in response to the fear-mongering over crack cocaine's increasing hold on the area, and Nancy Regan's well-intentioned but horribly dumbed-down (for an American population which would eventually became even more horribly dumbed-down as over the next 40 years) "Just Say No" campaign.

If one pays attention to the policy in Baltimore, it's NOT turning into Bunny Colvin's "Hamsterdam". We're talking drug POSSESSION. The real beast, drug distribution, isn't off the table. Nor do I think it should be.

Baltimore is a major US city. And, like every other major US city, there are plenty of people, from all walks of life, who are "in the market", for lack of a better term. Those who want to get their hands on it are going to find a way. Jail time is hardly a deterrent for possession, because jail time is rarely the result of a possession charge. And no, "possession with intent to distribute" is not the same thing.

The most popular point for advocacy of a policy like this is the ole "it'll stop jamming up the courts and jails". Yea, great, whatever.

Looking for a real societal impact? With possession charges on the table: 21 year old college kid goes to pick up an 8-ball and some Roxis for he and his buddies for the weekend. The kid was lazy and forgot to renew his car's registration. Passes an officer with a tag-reader, gets lit up, and panics knowing what he just purchased. Instead of being rational and pulling over and either a.) realizing he's probably getting pulled over for the administrative flag and will end up with a $40 ticket at worse or even b.) being objective about the fact that he can easily hide his wares and be ok, or at worst, spend 6 hours at Central Booking and be out before brunch, he panics bc, well, he's 21 and 21 year olds are bad at objectivity. He takes off, driving like a nut, and at an intersection, can't miss the car driven by a mother and her 3 kids on their way home from a soccer game, making a left turn in front of him. TBone accident at a high rate of speed. Four people either badly injured or deceased. And for what?

Take the fear of the charge off the table, kid pulls over, takes the warning (bc reasonable officers aren't going to ticket someone for a registration violation w/ no other flags), goes back to campus. Has a weekend of partying too hard, and life goes on.

I'm not going to be as long-winded about the prostitution offenses. Just realize that these women (and men) know what's going on in the streets in regards to REAL crime better than probably anyone. If not for fear of catching a charge for their illegal sex work or other VICE crimes, hopefully they're more willing to help out officers in the city when they may have information about a child sex-trafficking ring in the area or a lead in a violent crime case.

And yea, I know there's going to be a cacophony of "why are we letting the criminals tell the law how things are going to go" and some wildly unoriginal version of "now we're letting the inmates run the prison:. Fine. Social forces push and pull, and in turn, a society that wants to function and thrive as opposed to barely surviving requires a certain amount of give and take.

Ok, I'll hope off my soapbox so everyone can complain away....

(FYI, I live in Baltimore city.....I'm not speaking as an outside observer)

Love the wire. This isn't a new idea and it's not quite like what happened on the show. There aren't designated drug zones & dealing isn't legal. Just interrupting the cycle of people going in and out of prison. It's a drain on the system to have people taking up space for low level stuff. You shouldn't have no shot at life due to possession.

Tam Jam wrote:

So Baltimore has simply accepted that a certain demographic of its population is simply incapable of obeying laws or living in civilized society, so they've given up. How wonderful. What's next? How long before all expectations for this demographic are removed entirely and they're simply given a weekly check like that other demographic in the US? BTW, how well is that system working out?

Get real. Where people have not been held to the same standard for centuries. In terms of getting prosecuted for petty crimes.

Anyone else find Marilyn Mosby to be really attractive ?

I love her spunk.

Hamsterdam

Tam Jam wrote:

So Baltimore has simply accepted that a certain demographic of its population is simply incapable of obeying laws or living in civilized society, so they've given up. How wonderful. What's next? How long before all expectations for this demographic are removed entirely and they're simply given a weekly check like that other demographic in the US? BTW, how well is that system working out?

What do you think the punishment should be? For example how many years in prison should a 19 year old get for drinking alcohol(i.e. a drug that is illegal for them to consume)? What should we do with these people who are incapable of obeying the law?

Humans are a bunch of druggies. We have been consuming them pretty much since we crawled out of the ocean. How to prevent the damage they do to society is a tough one.

Prostitution is just as hard. If some girl wants to give blowjobs versus working at McDs sure. Having to do it to pay the rent? Not so much. And I will not pretend to understand what is going on at the asian massage parlour in terms of coersion.

You have given my country to gangsters and prostitutes all in the name of this INFECTION you call freedom, with no meaning or purpose.

Tam Jam wrote:

So Baltimore has simply accepted that a certain demographic of its population is simply incapable of obeying laws or living in civilized society, so they've given up. How wonderful.

How would you rate whatever they have been doing? Why not try a new plan when the old plan has clearly failed?

How long before all expectations for this demographic are removed entirely and they're simply given a weekly check like that other demographic in the US? BTW, how well is that system working out?

You mean like employed people? Its working out pretty good, thanks.

Hey wait, maybe, if we did something about poverty, some of these problem areas (hear me out) wouldn't be such problem.

Tam Jam wrote:

So Baltimore has simply accepted that a certain demographic of its population is simply incapable of obeying laws or living in civilized society, so they've given up. How wonderful. What's next? How long before all expectations for this demographic are removed entirely and they're simply given a weekly check like that other demographic in the US? BTW, how well is that system working out?

Can I borrow a white sheet? Guessing you may have a few....

Good. Arresting people for these victimless crimes is a waste of time, money and life, and makes them more likely to re-offend (hard to get a job with jail time for drugs on your record). We really need to re-examine some of this stuff and say "if we want X to happen, does Y work?" rather than just doing the same old thing.

The policy is working great in San Fran so might as well double down everywhere else.

I lean toward having rules and laws be as local as possible to meet the needs of citizens at that level where your ability as a citizen to vote to make change is the greatest. I am one of about 700K people in a congressional district and one of millions in a state I do not have a lot of influence.

Let's see what happens.

In general I am on the libertarian side on individual freedoms; if an activity is not illegal then the people doing it can also be protected.