Jaywalking shouldn’t be a crime. Everyone does it; it’s part of the
self-governing behavior of urbandwellers, and is so routine that I’ve
suspected it plays a crucial role in a city’s everyday mobility.
Countries that don’t criminalize jaywalking have lower rates of people
killed in traffic.
Even the police in many US cities would seem to agree that jaywalking laws are silly, because they ignore a ton of jaywalking.
The exception? Black Americans – they’re dramatically more
likely to be charged with jaywalking than white folks. What’s worse,
several jaywalking arrests of black residents in recent years have
spiraled into abuse, violence and even death – as with Trayvon Martin,
or the case that recently came to light of Johnnie Jermaine Rush: after Rush jogged away from two officers who stopped him for jaywalking, they strangled, punched and tasered him.
