The Rich Get Richer While The Poor Get Prison
Jeffrey H. Reiman (2003) provides an interesting thesis as the basis of his book The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison that the rich are treated by the criminal justice system in a much less severe manner than poorer nonviolent criminals. Reiman (2003) opens his book by undermining recent declines in crime as skewed, ôAfter more than 20 years of telling us that crime was growing out of control and proposing more cops and tougher laws and more prisons, crime rates are now coming down and politicians are jumping to claim credit for the reductionsö (p. 12). Despite this political rush for credit, Reiman (2003) contends crime is alive and well in American society at all socioeconomic levels. While many liberals often blame poverty as the root cause of crime, Reiman goes beyond poverty as an explanation. The authorÆs contention is that capitalism has created social norms out of poverty and greed, which in turn spur crime. From arrest to sentencing, Reiman demonstrates the pervasive anti-poor bias in the criminal justice system. He charges that the wealthy cause as much death and destruction and monetary loss to society as do crimes committed by the poor. Yet the poor go to prison while the wealthy, like Kenneth Lay, remain free after committing much more destructive crimes.
Reiman (2003) is not suggesting that poverty, lack of education, and prejudice are insignificant factors in the formation of crime, but he does argue that capitalism causes crime because it perpetuates poverty and greed and power. In fact, the wealthy get wealthy on the backs of the poor, according to Reiman (2003), because without poverty white collar crime would not exist. Basically, Reiman maintains that the class structure of capitalism permits greater power and resources to the wealthy. This stratum of society controls its social institutions, like the criminal justice system. For this reason,...