Criminal law involves the state's prosecution of a person for an act classified as a crime (Criminal Law, 2010). But who decides which acts are criminal? It should be no surprise that individuals with the most power do so. For radical criminologists, the problem arises in capitalist societies because it is in these societies that the means of production are privately owned by a small number of people. Drawing on the writings of Karl Marx, radical criminologists argue that the state works to serve the interests of the capitalist ruling class and that criminal law is simply a tool of that class to keep all other classes at a disadvantage (Young et al ., 1973; Quinney, 1980). Called elite, bourgeois or ruling class, these powerful people formulate and shape the content of the law to promote their interests and at the same time to exploit the poor and weak. Criminal law protects the powerful by making the most dangerous types of crimes appear to be committed by the poor and, consequently, setting the stage for criminal justice officials to prosecute and punish perpetrators of street crimes more harshly than white-collar perpetrators or corporate. crime. On September 13, 1989, a small town in Kentucky suffered a powerful and tragic mining “accident,” or so it seemed. The powerful methane explosion killed 10 men. A federal investigation revealed that the mine's acting foreman falsified countless safety reports, including those documenting methane levels. The foreman failed to comply with regulatory and safety requirements which ultimately led to the explosion and the deaths of 10 men. Accident? Homocide? Mass murder? What does the criminal law say? The foreman received the minimum... half of the paper... 4). Echo burn. ABA Journal. Ross, J. (2009). Cutting the Edge: Current Perspectives in Radical/Critical Criminology and Criminal Justice. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.Shukovsky, P. (2007). The FBI's compromise with terrorism. Retrieved from Seattle Post-Intelligencer: http://www.seattlepi.com/national/311046_fbiterror11.htmlSiegel, L. (2004). Models and typologies of criminological theories. New York: Prentice Hall.Sutherland, E. (1940). White collar crime. American Sociological Review, 1-12.Valentino, S. (2008). White collar criminal defense. Retrieved from Crime USA: http://www.crimeusa.com/White_Collar_Crime.htmlYoung, J., Taylor, I., & Walton, P. (1975). Critical criminology. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Young, J., Taylor, I., & Walton, P. (1973). The new criminology: towards a social theory of deviance. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.