Читать книгу Criminology For Dummies - Steven Briggs - Страница 50

Theoretically, laws in the United States reflect the will of the people, as carried out by their elected representatives in the legislature. But the passage of laws doesn’t always play out so neatly. Criminologists fall into at least two different camps on the issue of what influences the passage of laws in the United States:

 One group believes that, generally speaking, criminal laws reflect a consensus of the values of the citizens.

 Another group contends that the legislative process isn’t so clean and that the passage of criminal laws actually reflects conflicts between different interest groups.

Criminologists in the second group point to the scarcity of laws regulating large businesses or the wealthy because those interest groups wield lots of political power. These criminologists see conflict, rather than consensus, as the method by which criminal laws are passed. They argue that the more powerful and wealthy a group of people is, the less likely that group is to be regulated.

Having witnessed the passage of criminal laws firsthand, I argue that both views are partially right. With mala in se crimes — the crimes that most of us agree are evil (such as murder and rape) — the political process usually reflects the will of the people. However, in terms of malum in prohibita acts (the ones that aren’t necessarily evil but do need to be regulated), powerful and wealthy interest groups can sometimes sway legislators who are debating those acts.

Consider gun-control laws as an example: The National Rifle Association (NRA) devotes a good deal of time and money to influencing these laws. Depending on your personal views, you may see this fact as either good or bad. If you’re an NRA member, you may argue that the organization tries to ensure that individuals maintain their Second Amendment rights to own guns, hunt, and protect personal property. If you’re not an NRA member, you may consider the NRA an aggressive political advocacy group that prevents the reasonable regulation of firearms.

Almost every industry commits significant resources to protecting its corporate interests by lobbying (or influencing) legislators. And lobbying can sometimes mean trying to prevent the passage of criminal laws that may punish industry misconduct.

Nonetheless, U.S. society is far more regulated through criminal laws today than it was just 50 years ago. In a society that continues to grow more and more complex, new laws are often necessary to protect food and drug sources, the environment, civil rights, and personal safety.