ABSTRACT
The ideology of legal order is the ultimate form of control in capitalist society. Criminal law had a new moral basis: to promote the necessary order of a capitalist society. Legal harassment may become the tactic, rather than massive repression. The legal ideology thus embodies the notions of civil liberties and civil disobedience. These notions as part of the ideology of law make that ideology appear to serve the interests of the citizen. Public opinion about crime is conventionally thought to be a major force in determining criminal policy, but given the nature of power and economics in America the opposite is closer to the truth. It is criminal policy and official ideology that shape public opinion about crime. The content of the mass media must therefore be understood in reference to the underlying ideology and the presentation of a particular reality. Crime control, that is, the preservation of domestic order, is supposedly for the "public interest".
