ABSTRACT
Chapter 4 of The Rich Get Richer examines how a failing criminal justice system that neither protects society nor achieves justice is allowed to continue. The chapter notes that the criminal justice system actually fails in three ways: (1) It fails to implement policies that stand a good chance of reducing crime, (2) it fails to identify as crimes the harmful acts of the rich and powerful, and (3) it fails to eliminate economic bias in the criminal justice system itself. In addressing why this is happening, the authors point out that the wealthy are the beneficiaries of the current system's failure. They do not argue that this is a conspiracy but that those who have power to change the system benefit from the way it operates; they can go on performing harmful acts and accumulating wealth without punishment, while the country remains focused on street crime and poor minority criminals.
