White collar crime

White collar crimes are an often occurrence in America. From Martha Stewart's inside trading deals in the stock market to ENRON's accounting fraud we are constantly hearing about white collar crimes. However, white collar crimes are given much less importance in both the media and the justice system than violent crimes. As a matter of fact, in California you could rob a loaf of bread 3 times in your life and be sentenced for life while Martha Stewart merely served a year for having stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars. So what does this say about our justice system? Conflict theorists would argue that this is due to an inherent bias in our justice system that turns a blind eye on the rich, white, and powerful while at the same times gives out harsh punishments for crimes committed by the less affluent minorities. I believe that law enforcement effort should be focused on white collar crimes as much as street crimes. We cannot talk about equality in the justice system if we are selecting who to go after and who to turn a blind eye on.