criminalize

verb

Etymology: Etymology tree English criminal Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō)bor. Late Latin -izōder. Middle French -iserbor. Middle English -isen English -ize English criminalize From criminal + -ize.

1. To make (something) a crime; to make illegal under criminal law; to ban.

   “"Ag-gag laws criminalize undercover investigations by prohibiting one or more of three types of behavior: trespass, recording of videos, and failure to submit a video to law enforcement."”

   “The Nixon campaign in 1968[…] had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. […] [B]y getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities.”

2. To treat as a criminal.