Political Crimes, Sociology of

Political crime is rarely examined when studying the dynamics of crime, justice, and law. Yet understanding political offenses or illegalities is fundamental to comprehending the workings of a criminal justice system that selectively defines, enforces, and adjudicates who is defined as criminal. As a variety of scholars, jurists, policy makers, legislators, and activists have argued, the law and, by extension, crime qualify as political acts. Hence, interpreting law, crime, and criminals requires a political focus. Various criminal acts are explicitly political. For example, ...