One of These Crimes is Not Like the Others

February 10, 2009 -- While researching various categories of crime in the Texas Penal Code in preparation for the February 10 Bedford city council meeting, I found myself humming a familiar tune from Sesame Street.

You are probably familiar with it, so feel free to sing along:

One of these crimes is not like the others.
Which one is different?
Do you know?
Can you tell me which crime is not like the others?
And I'll tell you if it is so!

Here are your choices:
• Public Intoxication
• Indecent Exposure
• Shoplifting (petty theft)
• Simple Assault
• Walking in public between 9am and 2:30pm on school days

Did any one of these stick out to you as being very unlike the others?

Did you know that all of these actions are actually the same offense under the law? These are all examples of Class C Misdemeanors. Criminal charges for which arrests can be made.

The juvenile daytime curfew makes being out in public EQUAL to:
public intoxication, indecent exposure, shoplifting/petty theft, simple assault, and a host of other crimes identified as Class C Misdemeanors in the Texas penal code.

Does something not seem quite right about that?

What I find interesting is that when I asked my kids to try to guess which of these crimes was different, even my 6 year old was immediately able to point out that walking in public was not like the other "bad things." In fact, he was puzzled as to how walking in public could be considered "bad" at all.

It doesn't take a college degree, years of academy training, or even professional experience to figure this out. Even the Sesame Street crowd can tell the difference between a real crime and a constitutional freedom.

Big Bird would be proud. So am I.