That's an excellent article on the criminalization of poverty, INOBU. It isn't just a recent phenomenon. It's been happening for thousands of years. The poor have virtually always been treated in a prejudicial manner by law enforcement and the court systems. Why? Because they're poor, and they get no respect, that's why. They have apparently failed the competitive game of life in society's eyes...therefore they are penalized for that apparent failure in a thousand little demeaning and nasty ways. I think it's a reflection of how much most people fear poverty. They express that fear instinctively when they bring down the law on poor people. They are attacking what frightens them at a very deep psychological level.

Some other common things most people are afraid of:

- getting old
- getting ill
- dying
- being physically unattractive
- being unpopular
- being alone

If you are any of the above, then you are already in a position where you're going to get a much less positive reaction from most of society around you than if you were, say....young, attractive, rich, healthy, popular, and surrounded by your "friends".

It's just like the wounded bird in the flock of chickens. The others will commonly peck it to death. Why? Well, perhaps they are afraid at some level of being wounded themselves.

"nobody loves you when you're down and out"

Dylan probably looked (superficially) like someone who was down and out. That aroused suspicion in someone's mind, so they called the cops. If he actually had been down and out...powerless in the face of society, in other words...it would have been just one more unpleasant incident in a life that already could promise little but a succession of unpleasant incidents. And that's scary. No wonder most of us are so afraid of poverty. I know it scares me.