Overcriminalization Killed Daunte Wright

When a cop killed a man in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, yesterday, the officer had reportedly pulled him over for hanging air fresheners on his rearview mirror*. It wasn't just the latest high-profile case of abusive policing—it was important reminder of the ill effects of criminalizing the most trivial behaviors.

Daunte Wright, 20, died after the officer allegedly mistook her gun for a taser, according to Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon. After pulling Wright over for violating a Minnesota law that prohibits drivers from hanging objects—a rosary, fuzzy dice, an...