NYC: Socialist Lawmaker Claims Stealing for ‘Biological Need’ Should Not Be Illegal
A socialist lawmaker in New York City has claimed “biological need” gives shoplifters the right to steal from store shelves.
State Assemblywoman Emily Gallagher, who describes herself as a “neighborhood organizer” and “democratic socialist,” made her comments on Thursday outside Manhattan Criminal Court, the New York Post reported Saturday.
Today’s cover: Socialist NY lawmaker Emily Gallagher says shoplifting for ‘biological need’ is OK https://t.co/eza6XgAKyp pic.twitter.com/zp8lSHCjCv
— New York Post (@nypost) August 16, 2026
She was joined by members of Court Watch NYC, which claimed they monitored hundreds of arraignments for several days and found half of those cases were misdemeanors.
Gallagher said:
Most of what we saw were crimes of poverty-people who are stealing things like toothpaste, people who were stealing things like, you know, soap. And that means if you’re stealing those things, you need them. And we are choosing to protect billion-dollar companies, like CVS and Walgreens, over the people who are struggling to get by. So I would say that the true crime is that there is such incredible wealth disparity in this city that there are people who can be thrown in jail simply for having a biological need.
No one should be arrested—much less jailed—for stealing a tube of toothpaste.
Incarceration separates people from their jobs, support services, & loved ones. It perpetuates cycles of poverty & crime.
That’s a fact, no matter how much fear mongering the right wing media does. pic.twitter.com/WjyEPGIXqU
— Emily Gallagher (@EmilyAssembly) August 13, 2026
Gallagher said she is fighting to “pass things like treatment not jail and that we hold the line on the incredible criminal justice reforms that we have done over the last 10 and 20 years that are constantly being threatened by right-wing media who are looking to fear monger about people who are actually just in absolute dire straits.” (Read more from “NYC: Socialist Lawmaker Claims Stealing for ‘Biological Need’ Should Not Be Illegal” HERE)
