Jeffrey Reiman is the author of several books, including Abortion and the Ways We Value Life. His some of his other works are Critical Moral Liberalism: Theory & Practice, Justice and Modern Moral Philosophy, -- and the Poor Get Prison: Economic Bias in American Criminal Justice.

The main theme of this book is just what the title is, the rich get richer and the poor get prison, which occurs because of our present economic system. In this system we try to justify distorted definitions of crime and criminals, uneven wealth distribution, poverty, and a criminal justice system that "does not protect us against the gravest threats to life, limb, or possessions" (90).

One of the main topics in this book that helps support the main theme is the idea that the criminal justice system is a failure. Most importantly, our efforts to stop criminal offenses have not worked. The slight advancements that have been made are not likely to be because of new measures taken by the criminal justice system. This failure continues even though we know how to handle many of our social problems. It is further helped by four specific excuses. This excuses are, "we are too soft on crime"

Finally, Reiman states through the Pyrrhic defeat theory that "...failure of the criminal justice system yield[ing] such benefits to those in positions of power that it amounts to success" (5). If upper-class crimes were taken as seriously as the crimes committed by the poor, the upper-class would stand to loose much more than the poor. The rich receive positive effects from the fact that they pay only fines, instead of being sent to jail or prison. Further, it also benefits them that the criminal justice system focuses much more on the crime that occurs on the street, rather than behind closed office doors.

An additional supporting point is the concept the poor have more severe consequences than the rich when they are caught for a crime. So, while the rich must pay fines and possibly get probation, the poor must be sent to jail or prison. Apparently, in our system, the punishment does not always fit the crime. The criminal justice system, "...deals with some evil and not with others..." and "...it treats some minor evils as grave and treats some of the gravest evils as minor..." (57). This is not to say that the poor who are arrested and convicted are not guilty, because for the most part, they are usually serving time for a crime they did commit. However, it is the problem of "weeding out the wealthy" that occurs throughout all the levels of the criminal justice system. Not all of the people who are guilty make it in to jail or prison. In fact, it's mainly the "guilty poor" that are the ones who end up in jail or prison. As Reiman states, "our prisoners are not a cross-section of America. They are considerably poorer

My opinion of this book is it really makes the reader think more deeply into what exactly is going on in the criminal justice system. Reiman makes his point clearly stated, sometimes so clearly stated that it becomes repetitive, but he did make me begin to question the criminal justice system. I do agree with the main theme and basic points he mak

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Approximate Word count = 1349
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)