ABSTRACT
Chapter 3 of The Rich Get Richer examines the processes by which our prisons and jails come to be occupied predominately by those from the lowest social and economic classes. Having argued in Chapter 2 that the criminal law does not treat as crimes many serious harmful acts done by the well-off, Chapter 3 now argues that , among the acts that are treated as crimes, the criminal justice system “weeds out the wealthy.” For similar crimes, the poor are more likely to be arrested, more likely to be charged, more likely to be convicted, and more likely to be sentenced to longer prison sentences, than members of middle and upper classes.
