Jailing people for shoplifting basic items such as toothpaste and soap amounts to punishing them for meeting a 'biological need', a New York state lawmaker has argued, as she urged fellow progressives to resist calls for tougher penalties for low-level offences.
Emily Gallagher, a Democratic state assemblywoman who represents parts of northern Brooklyn and is affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America, has emerged as an outspoken advocate of criminal justice reform.
