Ann Cammett, "Queer Lockdown: Coming to Terms with the Ongoing Criminalization of LGBTQ Communities"
(page 8 of 9)

Lessons from the Trenches: Reliance on Law Enforcement a Double-Edged Sword

Notwithstanding the fact that Lawrence v. Texas[74] overturned anti-sodomy laws that criminalized gay sex, the ongoing criminalization of queerness persists for those who fail to conform to mainstream notions of gender expression or, as writer and poet Audre Lorde described it, "the mythical norm."[75] As alluded to earlier, people living with multiple identities who are at risk of criminal justice involvement are often subject to harassment by the same law enforcement apparatus empowered to provide them with safety and security.

All communities are entitled not only to safety and security but also to autonomy and self-definition. Bigotry and discrimination often drive police to act as an occupying army in some communities, at the time when they should be rendering aid. When confronting everyday violence, communities living on the margins have a well-founded reluctance to engage law enforcement. The fear of further victimization by the state in pursuit of safety has sometimes required people to seek immediate resolution of a crisis, while acknowledging the risk that police intervention can do further harm.[76] The same concerns about police intrusion, bias, and brutality are relevant in the queer community, particularly for poor queers of color. However, members of the community who are at risk should not be alone in questioning the larger impact of criminal justice encroachment. The experience of activists in the anti-violence movement is instructive in identifying some of the critical problems with single-issue advocacy.

In the spring of 2000, thousands of scholars, activists, lawyers, and service providers descended on the University of California in Santa Cruz to attend a conference entitled "The Color of Violence: Violence Against Women of Color." These participants were drawn from the social movements to combat sexual assault and domestic violence, but they were frustrated by the inability of anti-violence organizations to effectively address the problem of routine violence in women's lives. In large measure, that frustration stemmed from an analytical failure to address state violence in conjunction with private violence experienced within communities of color.[77] Conference organizers later went on to establish INCITE!,[78] a network of community organizations that continues to provide critical analysis and organizing tools to respond to violence. They frame the issue as responding to "the multiple forms of violence women of color experience in our lives, on our bodies, and in our communities."

One of the basic tenets arising from the conference (and later INCITE!) is a critique of the anti-violence movement's reliance on the criminal justice system as the front-line approach to ending violence against women.[79] They argue that as an overall strategy for ending violence criminalization has not worked. Over-incarceration has failed to stem the tide of violence against women in the U.S., on the borders, and abroad. Moreover, the criminalization approach has brought more women into conflict with the law. They note, in particular, the negative effect on "women of color, poor women, lesbians, sex workers, immigrant women, women with disabilities, and other marginalized women."[80]

One negative impact on women and also on queer people results from "mandatory arrest" policies enacted by statute in many jurisdictions.[81] These laws originally came about at the urging of advocates lamenting the failure of law enforcement to treat family violence as a crime comparable to stranger violence. Mandatory arrest laws require the arrest of "perpetrators" of violence when there is evidence of a crime, typically when police respond to a domestic violence call. One concern about the implementation of this policy is that police discretion about who to arrest can potentially result in the arrest of the victim if she fought back or was falsely accused of instigating the attack. For queer people, such a situation can be especially problematic, due to gender stereotyping.[82] As a practical matter, mandatory arrest policies may result in some victims seeking less support and intervention from the authorities, for fear that they, too, would be swept into the criminal process.[83]

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