Classism and Criminal Justice
Draft 2

Justice is a term that we hear every day and accept although many of us have skepticism as to what it truly means. In general, justice is the idea of righteousness and equality. In regards to society’s views on how “just” the criminal justice system is, we always incorporate the “ism’s”: Racism, sexism and classism, to demonstrate some of the pitfalls that the system has. Though it is obvious that all of these societal differences play a large role in the criminal justice process, I will focus on classism. Classism is the discrimination against a group or individual based on social and economic status. Classism is one of those “ism’s” that occurs more than we notice and sometimes, we may confuse it with things like racism or sexism. Classism, in my opinion, plays a larger role in the criminal justice system as opposed to the other forms of discriminatory practices. In particular, class largely comes into play during the sentencing process. Many authors argue that factors outside of class play a more important role, but I believe that there needs to be more attention paid to the role that class plays in targeting and the sentencing process in the criminal justice system. In order to understand the role that class plays in the sentencing process, we must, first, look at the role that it plays before the criminal reaches the day of sentencing. There are a plethora of publications that speak on profiling and actuarial methods which get people into the system. Though these are two large proponents of the discriminatory acts that exist within the confines of the criminal justice system, it does not begin with these institutionalized methods. The first instance of discrimination, which leads to all of the other forms within the system, are the laws and crime control policies that are implemented that, in some instances, are set up