The Criminal Jaywalker
A Law Promoting Safety or Perpetuating Disparities?
Crossing the street is criminal and deviant behavior in our society.
I say that, not with an agreement, but rather with confusion. The California Legislature sent a bill to Governor Newsom to decriminalize jaywalking in California. Gavin Newsom has since vetoed that bill stating
“I am concerned that AB 1238 will unintentionally reduce pedestrian safety and potentially increase fatalities or serious injuries caused by pedestrians that enter our roadways at inappropriate locations.”
In California, 30% of all traffic-related deaths are pedestrian fatalities. California averages approximately 3,500 traffic-related deaths per year, making the number of fatal pedestrian strikes by an automobile, at 1050. Of these 1,050 pedestrian fatalities, it is estimated that 63% are due to the pedestrian entering the street in an undesignated crosswalk, better known as Jaywalking. With the number of jaywalking fatalities at about 661 per year, one first feels heartbreak from the lives lost, and the psychological impact that haunts drivers for years after the incident.
Now you are probably thinking that this is a lot of death. In context, an entire year of deaths from jaywalking is about equivalent to the number of deaths from COVID-19 in the last five days; that number is considered low. Yet, not wearing a facemask is not a pretext for a police encounter. To understand why that is, we first need to look at California’s two laws discussed in this article. The first is jaywalking, which is defined by the California Vehicle Code § 21955, stating:
Between adjacent intersections controlled by traffic control signal devices or by police officers, pedestrians shall not cross the roadway at any place except in a crosswalk.
Enacted in 1959, when driving and roadways were still a relatively new concept and driving was much more dangerous, this law makes it a crime, punishable as an infraction that condemns those who cross the street in undesignated areas. I will spare you from a lengthy rant on freedoms and liberties but will say that criminalizing behavior that embraces the countries fundamental concepts is head-scratching.
Secondly, the new bill that was vetoed by the Governor of California AB 1236 would alter the law. Introduced into the Legislature February 19th 2021, State Assemblyman Phil Ting, it repealed many of the enforcable laws regarding jaywalking until the year 2019. It was passed by the California Assembly at a vote of 58 yes to 17 no, with 5 assembly members not voting. It was then passed in the State Senate at vote of 22 yes to 8 no, with 10 State Senators not voting. With the clear support from the majority, one must question the intention of Gavin Newsom in his veto of this law.
This veto is either not clearly thought through, or is purposefully perpetuating a system that is designed to target people of color as pre-text for a police encounter. Coming to the front of the news in the past few years, the rightful outrage law enforcement encounters with those of color, mainly black resulting in death. Even Governor Newsom recognized this disparity in his official veto to the Legislators, stating:
“Unequal enforcement of jaywalking laws and the use of minor offenses like it as a pretext to stop people of color, especially in under-resourced communities, is unacceptable and must be addressed. While I am committed to tackling this issue as part of our continued work to reduce excessive use of force and bias, I cannot support this bill in its current form.”
Recent data from the States new RIPA program, designed to track racial law enforcement disparities in the State. It found that African Americans were 4.5 times more likely to be stopped for jaywalking. Each ticket could lead to massive fines starting at just under $200, to misdemeanors which require time in court defending your liberties, to the ultimate price of death. This ultimate price has already sadly been paid by two men in California.
This accepted disparity, along with statements from multiple families who have lost loved ones from police encounters initiated by jaywalking, lead to unacceptable precedent. We as Americans can’t accept this type of exercise of power. One where the glaring disparity is acknowledged, and then vetoed. This is a slap in the face to progress toward equality.
Who are we as a people, that we are accepting of millions of dollars taken by the courts, mostly from African-American’s, due to crossing as the liberty of the pedestrian, yet we are appalled at the 661 individuals that die every year in California. This math does not add up. We have poor enforcement of a law that would protect hundreds of thousands from COVID-19, but decide to put time and effort into taking our freedoms away with Gubanatorial actions like this. This is yet another clear inequity in the law that reduces the freedoms and liberties of those of color. Liberty does not recognize race. Freedom does not see skin color. But those who are able to talk them away have 20/20 color vision.
