Classist Perversions Of Justice

Even when the right penalties are legally assigned to the right crimes, other biases and injustices can creep into a legal system.  Perhaps all cultures (even ancient Israel at times) have failed to uphold even the former, but the latter has many manifestations.  Throughout recorded history, one such manifestation is a bias in favor of or against the poor in matters of criminal justice.  The Bible rejects both biases, with Exodus 23:1-3 and 6-7 affirming that true justice is not biased towards or against the poor.

Siding with either a rich or poor person because of their economic status is an abomination.  Wealth is neither an indicator of moral character or corruption, and the same is true of poverty.  A person's economic class is irrelevant to their guilt or innocence.  Justice is inflexible, remaining unchanged when the rich and poor are the offenders and remaining unchanged when the rich and poor are the victims.  It is for this reason that Exodus 23 says to neither show favoritism towards the poor nor deny them justice.

If the members of a society truly seek justice, they will not be partial to the wealthy or the poor.  The hope of receiving part of a rich person's wealth in exchange for helping them escape justice may be a strong temptation for some, just as helping a poor person escape justice out of sympathy for their poverty may be a strong temptation for some, but to act on either impulse is a classist injustice, and Yahweh rejects classism in any direction.

Both the rich and poor have the same human rights, for those in both groups bear God's image; their social status is a red herring to matters of just punishment.  In order to ensure a just society (though there is far more to ensuring a just society than this), those in power must not be biased for or against the rich, poor, or middle classes.  To do so is to forsake the fact that moral obligations transcend class.

Wealth and the lack of it can be powerful motivators.  There is only nothing problematic with this--as long as they do not motivate someone to violate their obligations to others.  Justice demands that one consistently look to the humanity and guilt or innocence of a party rather than their class, gender, race, nationality, or any other irrelevant trait.  Class does not define guilt or innocence, and class is not all there is to an individual's existence.