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Michael E Lewyn

Selected Works

Jaywalking

Articles 1 - 6 of 6

Full-Text Articles in Law

Health And Safety Overregulation, Michael Lewyn Jan 2017

Health And Safety Overregulation, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Anti-jaywalking laws are designed to protect the safety of pedestrians. Similarly, police and child protection officials punish parents who allow their children to walk to school, in the name of child safety. This speech criticizes these policies and their justifications.

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The Criminalization Of Walking, Michael Lewyn Dec 2016

The Criminalization Of Walking, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

The simple act of walking is sometimes criminalized in the United States. Anti-jaywalking statutes and ordinances—originally motivated by auto-industry lobbyists in the 1920s—call for fines and, sometimes, imprisonment for crossing the street. Additionally, some localities have interpreted statutes against “child neglect” to encompass a parent’s decision to let their kid walk outside alone. The result of this criminalization? Such policies have reduced pedestrian liberty, increased automobile traffic and pollution, and created a disincentive for physical activity in the midst of an obesity and diabetes epidemic. In addition to discussing these effects, this Article argues that the purported safety benefits of …

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Robocar Risks, Michael Lewyn Dec 2016

Robocar Risks, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Suggests that policymakers should not widen roads or stringently enforce anti-jaywalking laws in order to accommodate autonomous vehicles.

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2015 Planetizen Blog Posts, Michael Lewyn Dec 2014

2015 Planetizen Blog Posts, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

2015 blog posts on urban issues from planetizen.com

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The Criminalization Of Walking, Michael Lewyn Dec 2014

The Criminalization Of Walking, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Because walking improves human health and reduces pollution, one might think that the law should encourage walking and discourage driving But in fact, criminal law sometimes punishes walkers, in two major respects. First, state and city laws against something often referred to as “jaywalking” limit walkers’ ability to cross streets. As a result of these laws, police can fine (and even arrest) walkers. Second, bureaucrats and police sometimes interpret child neglect laws to mean that preteen children may never walk on their own, and have sometimes arrested child pedestrians' parents or sought to place the children in state care. This …

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2014 Planetizen Blog Posts, Michael Lewyn Dec 2013

2014 Planetizen Blog Posts, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Blog posts on urban and suburban issues, available at planetizen.com

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