Amara urges DC Council to decriminalize Fare Evasion

The Amara Legal Center joined a sign on letter addressed to the DC Council in an effort to decriminalize Fare Evasion. Right now, Fare Evasion is a crime on WMATA buses and trains. It can result in arrest, jail time, and/or a fine of up to $300. Bill 22-408 would make Fare Evasion a civil crime punishable by a fine only. For more information on the importance of Fare Evasion, please see the sign on letter HERE.

The Amara Legal Center supports this effort because our clients are often financially dependent on an abuser. Having a criminal record only helps to keep clients in a cycle of dependency and instability. Moreover, those engaged in survival sex may be doing so because they can’t earn money any other way. Criminalizing their poverty traps clients in sex work. Criminalizing poverty captures people in a vicious cycle, including survivors of trafficking and sex workers. No money means jail. Jail means a record. A record means no job. No job, no money. #ItsNotFare to perpetuate this cycle.

Yvette Butler is the Director of Policy and Strategic Partnerships with the Amara Legal Center.