From Social Justice to Criminal Justice: Poverty and the Administration of Criminal Law

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edited by William C. Heffernan & John Kleinig John Jay College of Criminal Justice

The economically deprived come into contact with the criminal court system in sorely disproportionate numbers. Should economic deprivation then figure in the administration of criminal law? And if so, how? This collection of original, insightful essays explores the troubling questions and ethical dilemmas inherent in this situation.

Do those living under economic and social hardship have the same social obligations as the more fortunate, or does their hardship in some way exempt them from the formal obligations of civil society? Does their encounter with the criminal justice system …