ABSTRACT
Based on an examination of the various ways that Americans are harmed, this chapter shows that some of the greatest dangers that we face come from acts that are not labeled crimes. Readers are asked to compare the harms produced by crimes with the harms of noncriminal behavior as a step toward determining if the harsh treatment of those who impose criminal harms, and the gentle treatment of those who impose noncriminal harms, represent intelligent policy. As the response to the Defenders of the Present Legal Order shows, the acts that lead to these noncriminal harms share many elements of criminal conduct-they are harmful acts done knowingly or recklessly. However, they tend to be ignored or minimized by the criminal justice system. The inclusion of certain harmful acts within the criminal law, and the exclusion of other harmful acts, show that the criminal law does not reflect an objective reality about “dangerous crime.” The criminal justice system acts as a carnival mirror that distorts reality by magnifying the threat of street crime while minimizing other harmful behaviors. Could it be that the criminal justice system is focusing on the dangerous acts of the poor, and leaving us unprotected against the dangerous acts of the rich?
