this is not satire

https://thepostmillennial.com/proposal-to-legalize-crime-in-seattle-begins-the-legislative-process?fbclid=IwAR2azT5a8_3FEq6PEByXHcyU2MJFXQswwcjuJjik43EGyZ9apNZuO704kpE

When a homeless individual in Seattle decides to set up camp on your front lawn or a drug addict steals from your business, City Council Member Lisa Herbold is looking to make all misdemeanors not just the norm, but legal.

The legislation called "the poverty defense," was proposed and discussed Tuesday by the Seattle City Council's Public Safety Committee after it was introduced by Herbold and Anita Khandelwal, King County's director of the Department of Public Defense.In October, Herbold, chairperson of the Seattle City Council's Public Safety Committee, introduced legislation to "excuse and dismiss" almost all misdemeanor crimes committed in Seattle by "persons with symptoms of addiction or mental disorder." At the time, Herbold was criticized for trying to sneak the legislation in as part of the budget cycle rather than through the normal legislative process and with no public discussion about the proposal.

Herbold now wants to add legal defense to the Seattle municipal code, which would provide an affirmative defense for someone who committed a crime because they needed "…to meet a basic need to survive." Herbold said she wants a jury to hear a defendant's explanations for the crime and for the jurors to decide if the crime was committed to "…supply a basic need."

Additionally, an exception would be added to the new version of the proposal that would allow for the reselling of stolen goods to raise money to pay for a "basic need."