| It gets even worse: the prosecutors agreed to a quota of a particular number of prosecutions, which presumably translates into an arrest quota for the police: > "King County prosecutors again agreed to meet particular prosecutorial goals in exchange for funding. They signed a written agreement promising to achieve a total of 14,800 “direct buyer disruptions”..." When police start arresting people to make their quotas, they can end up arresting innocent people. Also, the prosecutor's behavior goes beyond accepting money to enforce laws: > "A legal scholar interviewed by The Intercept said he thinks that by calling consensual prostitution “trafficking,” the prosecutors’ behavior doesn’t only appear to violate those rules of professional conduct, subsequently hurting the right of the accused to a fair trial." The group that's financing this, which was founded by a Texas oil heiress, is operating in several cities across the U.S.: > "Demand Abolition has also provided millions of dollars in funding to law enforcement agencies and other organizations in local jurisdictions around the country, including Boston, Chicago (a part of Cook County, whose Sheriff’s office received $92,145 in funding from Demand Abolition between 2014 and 2016), Denver, Oakland (a part of Alameda County), Houston, and Dallas, according to tax documents." I find it kind of disturbing that one person with millions of dollars to throw around can influence the running of local law enforcement all over the country. There is significant potential for abuse in a system that allows this. |