Many US teenagers are coerced into prostitution by their need for food. In poor communities, there is no other work for them. Those not sexually attractive enough to succeed that way have to resort to even more desperate measures, such as stealing food or salable items, or selling drugs.

Stealing food should not be a crime when you need it to live. Italy's court made a wise decision on that. But we are wrong to put people in a position where they need to do this just to live.

It is clear who is to blame for this state of affairs: the plutocrats that are taking an ever-larger share of our wealth and squeezing everyone else.