New York Assemblywoman Emily Gallagher is facing criticism after arguing that some people accused of shoplifting basic necessities are being punished for what she described as a “biological need.”
Gallagher, a Brooklyn Democrat who identifies as a democratic socialist, made the remarks Thursday outside Manhattan Criminal Court while appearing with Court Watch NYC.
The organization said its members had spent several days observing hundreds of arraignments and found that about half involved misdemeanor charges.
Gallagher used the findings to argue that poverty rather than criminal intent was driving some of the cases passing through the court.
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
“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,” Gallagher said.
She then took the argument considerably further.
“And that means if you’re stealing those things, you need them,” she continued. “And we are choosing to protect billion-dollar companies, like CVS and Walgreens, over the people who are struggling to get by.”
Gallagher said she considered the underlying economic conditions more troubling than the theft itself.
“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,” she said.
Her remarks did not amount to a literal proposal declaring shoplifting legal. But her contention that stealing necessities demonstrates a need for them — and that prosecution can amount to punishment for satisfying a biological need — immediately generated an argument about where poverty mitigation ends and enforcement of property laws begins.
Gallagher also defended New York’s criminal justice changes and advocated for “treatment not jail.”
She said those reforms are “constantly being threatened by right-wing media who are looking to fear monger about people who are actually just in absolute dire straits.”
Critics quickly challenged her reasoning.
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
“The entire foundation for a civilized society rests on private property, ownership, and not stealing,” one social media user wrote. “If you legalized stealing, society would literally crumble overnight.”
Another commenter pointed to the consequences shoplifting can have for employees and neighborhoods, describing the closure of a nearby pharmacy that the commenter attributed to repeated theft.
“You know what else separates people from their jobs? Rampant shoplifting,” the user wrote.
The commenter also recalled witnessing someone remove every toothbrush and tube of toothpaste from a CVS, arguing that the quantity involved suggested the products were being taken for resale rather than personal use.
That distinction presents a problem with Gallagher’s broad formulation.
Someone stealing one tube of toothpaste because he cannot afford basic hygiene products presents a substantially different factual situation from an organized retail thief clearing an entire shelf to resell merchandise. The object being stolen does not, by itself, establish why it is being stolen.
Retail theft has become an intensely disputed political issue in New York and elsewhere, with lawmakers arguing over prosecution, pretrial detention, repeat offenders and the economic conditions that contribute to crime.
Gallagher approaches that debate from the left, emphasizing poverty and treatment rather than incarceration.
Republican lawmakers are making the opposite case as the November midterms approach.
NY Assemblywoman Emily Gallagher:
“If you steal soap, it means you need it”
She wants to allow “crimes of poverty” pic.twitter.com/I47grF9WWw
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) August 14, 2026
New York Reps. Claudia Tenney and Nicole Malliotakis recently warned that socialist ideas are gaining ground among younger Americans.
Malliotakis argued that expanding government intervention can begin incrementally through policies such as price controls and eventually produce serious economic consequences.
“It is sort of the baby steps where they begin to implement changes,” Malliotakis said. “They begin to take away freedoms. They begin to ration things, to implement price controls that are very destructive to the economy.”
Tenney drew on her experiences in Yugoslavia during the 1980s, recalling shortages of basic products.
“There wasn’t anything on the shelves,” she said. “I mean, you had to wait in line for bread, and everybody just figured that was part of it.”
