Sociologist Richard Quinney (1974, 1979, 1980) is a leading exponent of the view that the criminal justice system serves the interests of the powerful. Crime, according to Quinney (1970), is a definition of conduct created by authorized agents of social control - such as legislators and law enforcement officers - in a politically organized society. He and other conflict theorists argue that laymakung is often an attempt by the powerful to coerce others into their own morality (see also S.Spitzer 1975).