When people think of crime, that is, real crime, things such as rape, murder, kidnapping, and arson come to mind; and when one thinks of misdemeanor crime, things such as shoplifting, trespassing, drug possession, resisting arrest, and public intoxication would all be common representatives of such. As it is, it makes sense to have different categories of crime, but the problem with the way misdemeanor crimes currently are dealt with comes down to the sheer number of misdemeanors, of which in the book, Punishment Without Crime, we read that on a yearly basis, “13 million misdemeanors make up the vast majority, around 80 percent of the nation's criminal docket;” which is the prevailing reason why so many misdemeanor cases are actually resolved through the reduction of charges, the dismissal of such, or through plea bargaining, as compared to an actual trial, all because our justice system has not the capacity to handle that sort of massive volume. This would presuppose that in fairness to those so accused of misdemeanor crimes, and of a justice system, which is supposed to provide a speedy and public trial, with an impartial jury, that the very nature of the misdemeanor classification of crimes needs to be seriously re-evaluated.
After all, it is estimated that less than 5% of all misdemeanor crimes ever go to trial; thereby, signifying that the vast majority of these misdemeanor crimes are dealt with in a manner in which the envisioned justice system as propagated by the 6th Amendment to the Constitution, is basically circumvented for the convenience of the state. A far better solution to the dilemma of dealing with this massive quantity of misdemeanor crimes, is to reduce considerably those crimes currently classified as misdemeanors and replace such with infractions, instead; or in those cases of minor criminal activity or “victimless crimes” to take into fair consideration the actual removing of such as a crime or infraction, therewith. In point of fact, more behaviors and actions that are currently defined by law as a crime or even an infraction, do not necessarily equate to having a fairer or a safer society, but really should be rightly seen as oppression by the state for the purposes of control, manipulation, and intimidation.
Serious crimes, such as murder and rape, should be dealt with in a serious manner; and that which is far less serious, should be dealt with in a manner of which, a monetary infraction is imposed, or counseling, or some other reasonable means that deal with the issue at hand by taking into consideration that the objective should be to correct or to ameliorate misbehavior, as compared to punishment without fair accounting of the circumstances so involved. The United States spends an inordinate amount of time, arresting its citizens, and then doesn’t even provide a fair opportunity for most of those so arrested, to actually have their say in a court of law with a jury of their peers, but rather allows the prosecuting arm of the state to, often times, coerce a plea bargain from someone who is typically vulnerable and weak.
There are all sorts of things that occur on a given day that the state has classified as a misdemeanor crime, of which that state is quick to arrest, but then fails to do its part in allowing those so arrested to be examined in an open forum by their peers, because the state doesn’t care about fair justice, but rather cares only to enforce its power upon those that are typically powerless.