Criminal enforcement of environmental laws cannot deter ecological harm or achieve environmental justice

Environmental harm is at an all-time high and the Earth’s inhabitants are increasingly suffering as a result. This chapter examines the criminal justice response to environmental harm and its human victims, who are often economically and socially marginalized. We raise three important critiques of criminal justice responses to environmental crime in this chapter. First, we propose that while there is some evidence that specific and general deterrence may reduce environmental crime, the criminal justice response is unable to stop global capitalism, which endlessly expands production and drives environmental pollution to unprecedented levels. Second, we suggest that criminal justice response to environmental crime is unjust as it does not adequately protect future generations or the needs of marginalized communities. Finally, we point out how the criminal justice system often takes the side of the state, corporations, and industry in helping to criminalize those who oppose pollution.