Over years of analysis of the American prison population, there is little hesitation that the majority of the country’s crimes committed have come from the lowest class of society’s socioeconomic continuum. Though this may seem biased, this clearly shows that the justice system hauls in the poorest of the society, and the link between criminal activity and social classes remains controversial. White collar crime is among the most powerful of crimes because it can effect so many, so it is crucial to the Criminal Justice system to put a stop to these criminals. Lower economic classes are more likely to be arrested and incarcerated with harsher sentences during prosecution phase for a crime rather than the upper class. Although criminal activity among the upper class may impose a greater threat to American society, the wealthier people are the least likely to be convicted of a crime. The differences between white collar crimes, and blue collar crimes, the stereotypes, theories, and the prosecution of the offense are major in today’s society.
The term “white collar” came from American writer, Upton Sinclair, typically referring to a salaried professional. Today, white collar crimes are usually committed by those from high social status, committing crimes labeled as non-violent such as fraud or embezzlement. According to Friedrich, “white collar crime is a generic term for the whole range of illegal, prohibited, and demonstrably harmful activities involving a violation of a private or public trust committed by institutions and individuals occupying a legitimate, respectable status and directed toward a financial advantage or the maintenance and extension of power and privilege” (Langlois, 2018). A well known example of a white collar crime case is former chairman of NASDAQ, Bernie Madoff. He had managed to create a multi-billion dollar investment firm from false trading reports, and without the assistance of major derivative firms, who refused to trade with Madoff. Though he was suspected to be a sham the decade before, it was not until 2008 that he was arrested when his misdeeds were reported by his son. In 2009, he pled guilty to eleven federal crimes including money laundering, securities fraud, and theft from an employee benefit plan. For his crime, he received one hundred fifty years in prison, and one hundred seventy billion dollars in restoration as the penalty. As a result of the scandal, investors lost billions dollars, and three people in the business, including Madoff’s son, committed suicide. It is shown in Madoff’s case that white collar crime is very impactful in economics due to the billions of dollars lost within his Ponzi scheme.
Furthermore, blue collar crimes are typically violent crimes such as murder, robbery, rape, and assault, prominently seen in the lower class, deriving from clothing generally worn by manual labors. A security guard working for Maison Blanche in New Orleans testified on January 2nd, 1996, that he observed Timothy Jackson steal a jacket from a rack and walk out of the store without paying for the jacket. The guard said he hurried downstairs and onto the street where he set the jacket down. When Jackson was asked why he took the jacket by the police, he simply said, “I just needed another jacket, man” (State vs Jackson, 1997). The total value of the jacket Mr. Jackson stole was one hundred fifty nine dollars, and he was sentenced to life in prison in Louisiana’s Angola prison. The conundrum we find ourselves in is situations like these where Timothy Jackson stole a one hundred fifty nine dollar jacket, and Bernie Madoff stole an estimated sixty five billion dollars, and yet they both received a similar punishment. Mr. Madoff was seventy-one when he was sent to prison for life after living a full and privileged life while Mr. Jackson was only thirty-seven and suffered the same fate as Mr. Madoff, which hardly seems fair. This shows that the justice system favors the rich and hauls in the poorest of society.
Although there are stereotypes for the type of people that commit white or blue collar crimes, there are cases in which criminals step over the boundary drawn by society. A well known case where a wealthy man commits a blue collar style crime is the infamous serial killer H. H. Holmes. Nicknamed the “Beast of Chicago” Holmes killed many of the city’s residents in his specially constructed home known as the “Murder Castle.” He was born to a wealthy family, and had a privileged childhood where he developed an interest in medicine, reportedly leading him to practice surgery on animals. Some reports even suggest he may have been responsible for the death of his friend. Holmes moved to Chicago in 1886 where he soon found work in a pharmacy. He eventually took over the business, and the original owner mysteriously vanished. Holmes had a three story house of horrors constructed with the upper floors containing his living quarters and many torture rooms where he killed his victims. These rooms contained gas jets so Holmes could suffocate his victims, and trapdoors to move the victims bodies to the basement where he would then burn them to dispose of the bodies quickly. In 1893, during the Columbian Exposition, H.H. Holmes opened his home as a hotel for the visitors of the World’s Fair. Unfortunately, some of his guests did not survive his fatal hospitality, as many of these victims were women he seduced, swindled, and killed. H.H. Holmes is a prime example that shows the stereotype behind the lower class of society solely commit violent crimes is false. Another criminal that committed crimes that crossed the boundaries drawn by society is Al Capone. Capone was born into a poor Italian family who had just immigrated to the United States. Capone was charged with income tax evasion in 1931, and was also charged with the misdemeanor of failing to file tax returns. The government also ruled that Capone owed over two hundred thousand dollars in taxes from his gambling profits. A third allegation was added, charging Capone with conspiracy to violate Prohibition laws from 1922 to 1931. He plead guilty to all three charges in hopes of obtaining a plea bargain, however the judge, James H. Wilkerson, who presided over the case did not make any deals. After hearing there was no plea bargain, Capone changed his plea to not guilty, and tried to bribe the jury, however, Wilkerson changed the jury panel at the last minute. He was found not guilty on eighteen of the twenty three counts, and sentenced to a total of ten years in federal prison. In addition to this prosecution, Capone had to serve an additional six month contempt of court sentence for failing to appear in court. The fines totaled to an estimated fifty thousand dollars, in addition to the seven thousand Capone had to pay for prosecution costs. Among these crimes committed, they were all men, who commit on average seventy five percent of the United States’ white collar offenses. On average, men cost companies four times as much as women. With every one hundred thousand people in the United States, there are over five thousand arrests directed to white collar crime, relating back to it being among the most powerful of offenses, and its importance to be controlled.
With years of research of white collar crime, there have been many theories that have attempted to help explain its occurrence. Although one theory does not fit all crime, I believe Rational Choice Theory provides the most logical reasoning behind white collar crime offenders. The development of Rational Choice is most commonly associated with Italian philosopher Cesare Beccaria. He suggested that “(a) people choose all behavior, including criminal behavior; (b) their choices are designed to bring them pleasure and reduce pain; (c) criminal choices can be controlled by fear of punishment; and (d) the more severe, certain, and swift the punishment, the greater its ability to control criminal behavior” (Langlois, 2018). In other words, crimes occur when criminals consider the costs and benefits, and decide the rewards outweigh the punishment. In the case of Bernie Madoff, for example, the white collar criminal planned and weighed the options of his choice, and concluded the benefit of stock manipulation outweighed him being caught.
It may be concluded that the criminal justice system is blind, and at times unfair as shown in the case of Timothy Jackson from Louisiana. It is also a fool’s errand to assume only one kind of social class commits a certain type of crime as evidenced by H.H Holmes, or even Al Capone. As Woody Guthrie states in his song Pretty Boy Floyd, “Some men rob you with a six-gun, some with a fountain pen.” To elaborate, some men will rob you point blank, while others will rob you blind. Noticeably, the upper class who commits most white collar crime, have an advantage over the lower class, who commit most blue collar crime. No matter however rich or poor, crime can vex us, irrespective of the contents of our bank accounts.