Michael Hiltzik: The truth about 'zero tolerance': It doesn't work and always leads to disaster

The policy of "zero tolerance" has been prominent in the news lately, and not in a good way.

Imposed by the Trump administration on immigrant crossings, it is the root cause of the humanitarian disaster unfolding on our southern border, where children are being ripped away from their families and lost in a bureaucratic chaos.

To scholars of zero tolerance, this isn't surprising. Studies of its application in the fields where it has become most popular - school discipline and community policing - find that it doesn't work to maintain order or reduce crime.

Although zero tolerance generally is implemented to signal a tough stance against wrongdoers, in fact it signals weakness, not strength. And although by its very definition it's designed to be applied universally, almost always it's directed chiefly at minorities.

Those flaws are all on display at the border. There, the zero-tolerance policy proclaimed by Attorney General