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TechnoratiThis is the text of a speech delivered by Russell Mokhiber, editor of Corporate Crime Reporter to the Taming the Giant Corporation conference in Washington, D.C., June 9, 2007:
Twenty years ago, Corporate Crime Reporter, a weekly print newsletter, was launched.From the beginning, the most popular feature of Corporate Crime Reporter has been a question/answer format interview.
Over the years, we've interviewed hundreds of prosecutors, defense attorneys, law school professors, reporters, and activists.
Our first interview, which appeared in Volume One, Number One on April 13, 1987 was with the premier corporate crime prosecutor of his day.
That was Rudolph Giuliani, then U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York.
At the time, he was prosecuting the likes of Michael Milken, Ivan Boesky and Marc Rich.
President Clinton later pardoned Marc Rich.
Apparently Marc Rich's wife was dumping big cash into the Clinton library.
Rudy is now solidly in the hands of the corporate crime lobby. He prosecuted corporate crime as a way to achieve higher office. Then he learned one of the key lessons of corporate crime prosecution.
You can achieve higher office by prosecuting corporate crime. But as you move up the ladder, you have to make nice with the corporate powers that be. And so you turn your attention and rhetoric to various forms of street crime.
Now, Rudy is ready to be President.
So, corporate crime lesson number one — prosecute corporate crime to achieve higher office, then prosecute street crime to protect your political position.
Or to simplify it, corporate crime is all about power politics.
And the corporate crime game is a bi-partisan affair — it is played the same by Democrats and Republicans alike.
Eliot Spitzer, the former Attorney General of New York, prosecuted corporate crime to achieve higher office.
And now as Governor of New York, Spitzer is making nice with Wall Street.
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Corporate Crime Reporter, I present to you the Top 20 Things You Should Know About Corporate Crime.
With a tip of the hat to David Letterman, let us proceed.
Number 20
Corporate crime inflicts far more damage on society than all street crime combined.
Whether in bodies or injuries or dollars lost, corporate crime and violence wins by a landslide.
The FBI estimates, for example, that burglary and robbery — street crimes — costs the nation $3.8 billion a year.
The losses from a handful of major corporate frauds — Tyco, Adelphia, Worldcom, Enron — swamp the losses from all street robberies and burglaries combined.
Health care fraud alone costs Americans $100 billion to $400 billion a year.
The savings and loan fraud — which former Attorney General Dick Thornburgh called "the biggest white collar swindle in history" — cost us anywhere from $300 billion to $500 billion.
And then you have your lesser frauds: auto repair fraud, $40 billion a year, securities fraud, $15 billion a year — and on down the list.
Number 19
Corporate crime is often violent crime.
Recite this list of corporate frauds and people will immediately say to you: but you can't compare street crime and corporate crime — corporate crime is not violent crime.
Not true.
Corporate crime is often violent crime.
The FBI estimates that, 16,000 Americans are murdered every year.
Compare this to the 56,000 Americans who die every year on the job or from occupational diseases such as black lung and asbestosis and the tens of thousands of other Americans who fall victim to the silent violence of pollution, contaminated foods, hazardous consumer products, and hospital malpractice.
These deaths are often the result of criminal recklessness. Yet, they are rarely prosecuted as homicides or as criminal violations of federal laws.
Number 18
Corporate criminals are the only criminal class in the United States that have the power to define the laws under which they live.
The mafia, no.
The gangstas, no.
The street thugs, no.
But the corporate criminal lobby, yes. They have marinated Washington — from the White House to the Congress to K Street — with their largesse. And out the other end come the laws they can live with. They still violate their own rules with impunity. But they make sure the laws are kept within reasonable bounds.
Exhibit A — the automobile industry.
Over the past 30 years, the industry has worked its will on Congress to block legislation that would impose criminal sanctions on knowing and willful violations of the federal auto safety laws. Today, with very narrow exceptions, if an auto company is caught violating the law, only a civil fine is imposed.
Number 17
Corporate crime is underprosecuted by a factor of say — 100. And the flip side of that — corporate crime prosecutors are underfunded by a factor of say — 100.
Big companies that are criminally prosecuted represent only the tip of a very large iceberg of corporate wrongdoing.
For every company convicted of health care fraud, there are hundreds of others who get away with ripping off Medicare and Medicaid, or face only mild slap-on-the-wrist fines and civil penalties when caught.
For every company convicted of polluting the nation's waterways, there are many others who are not prosecuted because their corporate defense lawyers are able to offer up a low-level employee to go to jail in exchange for a promise from prosecutors not to touch the company or high-level executives.
For every corporation convicted of bribery or of giving money directly to a public official in violation of federal law, there are thousands who give money legally through political action committees to candidates and political parties. They profit from a system that effectively has legalized bribery.
For every corporation convicted of selling illegal pesticides, there are hundreds more who are not prosecuted because their lobbyists have worked their way in Washington to ensure that dangerous pesticides remain legal.
For every corporation convicted of reckless homicide in the death of a worker, there are hundreds of others that don't even get investigated for reckless homicide when a worker is killed on the job. Only a few district attorneys across the country have historically investigated workplace deaths as homicides.
Corporate crime prosecutors are underfunded by a factor of say — 100.
White collar crime defense attorneys regularly admit that if more prosecutors had more resources, the number of corporate crime prosecutions would increase dramatically. A large number of serious corporate and white collar crime cases are now left on the table for lack of resources.
Number 16
Beware of consumer groups or other public interest groups who make nice with corporations.
There are now probably more fake public interest groups than actual ones in America today. And many formerly legitimate public interest groups have been taken over or compromised by big corporations. Our favorite example is the National Consumer League. It's the oldest consumer group in the country. It was created to eradicate child labor.
But in the last ten years or so, it has been taken over by large corporations. It now gets the majority of its budget from big corporations such as Pfizer, Bank of America, Pharmacia & Upjohn, Kaiser Permanente, Wyeth-Ayerst, and Verizon.
Number 15
It used to be when a corporation committed a crime, they pled guilty to a crime.
So, for example, so many large corporations were pleading guilty to crimes in the 1990s, that in 2000, we put out a report titled The Top 100 Corporate Criminals of the 1990s. We went back through all of the Corporate Crime Reporters for that decade, pulled out all of the big corporations that had been convicted, ranked the corporate criminals by the amount of their criminal fines, and cut it off at 100.
So, you have your Fortune 500, your Forbes 400, and your Corporate Crime Reporter 100.
Number 14
Now, corporate criminals don't have to worry about pleading guilty to crimes.
Three new loopholes have developed over the past five years — the deferred prosecution agreement, the non prosecution agreement, and pleading guilty a closet entity or a defunct entity that has nothing to lose.
Number 13
Corporations love deferred prosecution agreements.
In the 1990s, if prosecutors had evidence of a crime, they would bring a criminal charge against the corporation and sometimes against the individual executives. And the company would end up pleading guilty.
Then, about three years ago, the Justice Department said — hey, there is this thing called a deferred prosecution agreement.
We can bring a criminal charge against the company. And we will tell the company — if you are a good company and do not violate the law for the next two years, we will drop the charges. No harm, no foul. This is called a deferred prosecution agreement.
And most major corporate crime prosecutions are brought this way now. The company pays a fine. The company is charged with a crime. But there is no conviction. And after two or three years, depending on the term of the agreement, the charges are dropped.
Number 12
Corporations love non prosecution agreements even more.
One Friday evening last July, I was sitting my office in the National Press Building. And into my e-mail box came a press release from the Justice Department.
The press release announced that Boeing will pay a $50 million criminal penalty and $615 million in civil penalties to resolve federal claims relating to the company's hiring of the former Air Force acquisitions chief Darleen A. Druyun, by its then CFO, Michael Sears — and stealing sensitive procurement information.
So, the company pays a criminal penalty. And I figure, okay if they paid a criminal penalty, they must have pled guilty.
No, they did not plead guilty.
Okay, they must have been charged with a crime and had the prosecution deferred.
No, they were not charged with a crime and did not have the prosecution deferred.
About a week later, after pounding the Justice Department for an answer as to what happened to Boeing, they sent over something called a non prosecution agreement.
That is where the Justice Department says — we're going to fine you criminally, but hey, we don't want to cost you any government business, so sign this agreement. It says we won't prosecute you if you pay the fine and change your ways.
Corporate criminals love non prosecution agreements. No criminal charge. No criminal record. No guilty plea. Just pay the fine and leave.
Number 11
In health fraud cases, find an empty closet or defunct entity to plead guilty.
The government has a mandatory exclusion rule for health care corporations that are convicted of ripping off Medicare.
Such an exclusion is the equivalent of the death penalty. If a major drug company can't do business with Medicare, it loses a big chunk of its business. There have been many criminal prosecutions of major health care corporations for ripping off Medicare. And many of these companies have pled guilty. But not one major health care company has been excluded from Medicare.
Why not?
Because when you read in the newspaper that a major health care company pled guilty, it's not the parent company that pleads guilty. The prosecutor will allow a unit of the corporation that has no assets — or even a defunct entity — to plead guilty. And therefore that unit will be excluded from Medicare — which doesn't bother the parent corporation, because the unit had no business with Medicare to begin with.
Earlier, Dr. Sidney Wolfe was here and talked about the criminal prosecution of Purdue Pharma, the Stamford, Connecticut-based maker of OxyContin.
Dr. Wolfe said that the company pled guilty to pushing OxyContin by making claims that it is less addictive and less subject to abuse than other pain medications and that it continued to do so despite warnings to the contrary from doctors, the media, and members of its own sales force.
Well, Purdue Pharma — the company that makes and markets the drug — didn't plead guilty. A different company — Purdue Frederick pled guilty. Purdue Pharma actually got a non-prosecution agreement. Purdue Frederick had nothing to lose, so it pled guilty.
Number 10
Corporate criminals don't like to be put on probation.
Very rarely, a corporation convicted of a crime will be placed on probation. Many years ago, Consolidated Edison in New York was convicted of an environmental crime. A probation official was assigned. Employees would call him with wrongdoing. He would write reports for the judge. The company changed its ways. There was actual change within the corporation.
Corporations hate this. They hate being under the supervision of some public official, like a judge.
We need more corporate probation.
Number 9
Corporate criminals don't like to be charged with homicide.
Street murders occur every day in America. And they are prosecuted every day in America. Corporate homicides occur every day in America. But they are rarely prosecuted.
The last homicide prosecution brought against a major American corporation was in 1980, when a Republican Indiana prosecutor charged Ford Motor Co. with homicide for the deaths of three teenaged girls who died when their Ford Pinto caught on fire after being rear-ended in northern Indiana.
The prosecutor alleged that Ford knew that it was marketing a defective product, with a gas tank that crushed when rear ended, spilling fuel.
In the Indiana case, the girls were incinerated to death.
But Ford brought in a hot shot criminal defense lawyer who in turn hired the best friend of the judge as local counsel, and who, as a result, secured a not guilty verdict after persuading the judge to keep key evidence out of the jury room.
It's time to crank up the corporate homicide prosecutions.
Number 8
There are very few career prosecutors of corporate crime.
Patrick Fitzgerald is one that comes to mind. He's the U.S. Attorney in Chicago. He put away Scooter Libby. And he's now prosecuting the Canadian media baron Conrad Black.
Number 7
Most corporate crime prosecutors see their jobs as a stepping stone to greater things.
Spitzer and Giuliani prosecuted corporate crime as a way to move up the political ladder. But most young prosecutors prosecute corporate crime to move into the lucrative corporate crime defense bar.
Number 6
Most corporate criminals turn themselves into the authorities.
The vast majority of corporate criminal prosecutions are now driven by the corporations themselves. If they find something wrong, they know they can trust the prosecutor to do the right thing. They will be forced to pay a fine, maybe agree to make some internal changes.
But in this day and age, in all likelihood, they will not be forced to plead guilty.
So, better to be up front with the prosecutor and put the matter behind them. To save the hide of the corporation, they will cooperate with federal prosecutors against individual executives within the company. Individuals will be charged, the corporation will not.
Number 5
The market doesn't take most modern corporate criminal prosecutions seriously.
Almost universally, when a corporate crime case is settled, the stock of the company involved goes up.
Why? Because a cloud has been cleared and there is no serious consequence to the company. No structural changes in how the company does business. No monitor. No probation. Preserving corporate reputation is the name of the game.
Number 4
The Justice Department needs to start publishing an annual Corporate Crime in the United States report.
Every year, the Justice Department puts out an annual report titled "Crime in the United States."
But by "Crime in the United States," the Justice Department means "street crime in the United States."
In the "Crime in the United States" annual report, you can read about burglary, robbery and theft.
There is little or nothing about price-fixing, corporate fraud, pollution, or public corruption.
A yearly Justice Department report on Corporate Crime in the United States is long overdue.
Number 3
We must start asking — which side are you on — with the corporate criminals or against?
Most professionals in Washington work for, are paid by, or are under the control of the corporate crime lobby. Young lawyers come to town, fresh out of law school, 25 years old, and their starting salary is $160,000 a year. And they're working for the corporate criminals.
Young lawyers graduating from the top law schools have all kinds of excuses for working for the corporate criminals — huge debt, just going to stay a couple of years for the experience.
But the reality is, they are working for the corporate criminals.
What kind of respect should we give them? Especially since they have many options other than working for the corporate criminals.
Time to dust off that age-old question — which side are you on? (For young lawyers out there considering other options, check out Alan Morrison's new book — Beyond the Big Firm: Profiles of Lawyers Who Want Something More.)
Number 2
We need a 911 number for the American people to dial to report corporate crime and violence.
If you want to report street crime and violence, call 911.
But what number do you call if you want to report corporate crime and violence?
We propose 611.
Call 611 to report corporate crime and violence.
We need a national number where people can pick up the phone and report the corporate criminals in our midst.
What triggered this thought?
We attended the press conference at the Justice Department the other day announcing the indictment of Congressman William Jefferson (D-Louisiana).
Jefferson was the first U.S. official charged with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Federal officials alleged that Jefferson was both on the giving and receiving ends of bribe payments.
On the receiving end, he took $100,000 in cash — $90,000 of it was stuffed into his freezer in Washington, D.C.
The $90,000 was separated in $10,000 increments, wrapped in aluminum foil, and concealed inside various frozen food containers.
At the press conference announcing the indictment, after various federal officials made their case before the cameras, up to the mike came Joe Persichini, assistant director of the Washington field office of the FBI.
"To the American people, I ask you, take time," Persichini said. "Read this charging document line by line, scheme by scheme, count by count. This case is about greed, power and arrogance."
"Everyone is entitled to honest and ethical public service," Persichini continued. "We as leaders standing here today cannot do it alone. We need the public's help. The amount of corruption is dependent on what the public with allow.
Again, the amount of corruption is dependent on what the public will allow."
"If you have knowledge of, if you've been confronted with or you are participating, I ask that you contact your local FBI office or you call the Washington Field Office of the FBI at 202.278.2000. Thank you very much."
Shorten the number — make it 611.
Number one.
And the number one thing you should know about corporate crime?
Everyone is deserving of justice. So, question, debate, strategize, yes.
But if God-forbid you too are victimized by a corporate criminal, you too will demand justice.
We need a more beefed up, more effective justice system to deal with the corporate criminals in our midst.
Thank you.
CorporateCrimeReporter.com
© Corporate Crime Reporter
22 Comments so far
Show All"Corporate America has made a huge mess at the expense of the public-and needs to be held accountable."
here is my story about Corporate America!!
http://www.apartmentratings.com/rate/OR-Eugene-Forest-Hills.html
Dear all, please help me. I'm in crisis!!
I would like you to look at this serious crisis in my life.. It has been
since Nov. 22-06. I'm homeless living at friends houses...
thanks. nadia
www.nadiasindi.blogspot.com :
This is one of the basic Human Rights of having a place to live in. I was stripped out of. because of my National Origin and Islamic Religion, Female.
Our Rep. Bob Ackerman who forged my family's signature hired Barnhar
Associates Realtor to sell our Condominium with the cheapest price. Then,
listed with higher price than he actually sold it. I wouldn't be renting an
apartment, if some one was watching for the corruption of our elected
officials.. and covering up and be complicit with the system.
Regarding: eviction of Nadia Sindi
Jennifer Mingo, Manager
Forest Hills Apartments: http://www.apartmentratings.com/rate/OR-Eugene-Forest-Hills.html
3950 Goodpasture Loop
Eugene, OR 97401
Regarding: eviction of Nadia Sindi
Dear Ms. Mingo,
On behalf of Muslims in Eugene, Lane County and the Oregon Coast, we
urge you to immediately re-rent an apartment to Nadia Sindi, whom you
have made homeless without cause.
Because she has rented from Forest Hills since 1999, and because she
reports always paying her rent on time and following the rules, we are
puzzled that you would chose to terminate her lease NOW.
We can only conclude that you have thrown Nadia into the street because
she is an Arab and a Muslim, that you gave her a termination notice
because of hatred, bias or prejudice against our race and our religion.
Such hatred is often fanned by the media but is completely unAmerican.
In our experience, most people who take time to get to know Muslims
conclude we are just like anybody else: we have the good, the bad, and
all sorts of in-between.
My wife and I have known Nadia for the last 12 years. She is a tireless
champion of the weak and the misfortunate, advocating for what she
believes is right in the best spirit of Islam and of the United States.
As a single mother in Eugene, she raised a beautiful daughter, and now
is a grandmother of five. A few years ago, Nadia received over 10,000
votes and nearly won the election when she ran for a seat on Lane
Community College board of trustees. Is it not shameful to throw such a
treasure to the community on the street like this week's garbage?
All she asks is to be treated like any other tenant, with her hot water
working and her toilet unplugged, and without harassment, in peace and
harmony with her neighbors of all faith and ethnic backgrounds.
We notice by the newspaper ads that you continually have apartments for
rent. Please reconsider your decision and find her a place in your
complex right away.
Most sincerely,
Director Islamic Cultural Center of Eugene
PS: In 2005 I ran for the 4J School Board in Eugene,Oregon, against the corrupted Corporate Executive of Pepsi Cola Eric Forrest. I was stalked,harassed,-hate emails,telephone harassment- almost ran over more than three times, was going to be killed. I was prisoner in my house for more than six months.
I'm the fouder of a group calls the Eugene Middle East Peace Group back in 2000.
Right after the intifada.
--
Salaam. nadia
www.nadiasindi.blogspot.com
This list has to be one of my TOP TEN articles of the YEAR!! GREEEEAT!!!
Corporate Crime is something with which I have first had experience. I'm a software engineer that supported a team of auditors in an investigation that resulted in the imprisonment of a major corporate CEO for illegal campaign donations. I learned from that experience how the system is favors corporate criminals.
The story omits corporate involvement in profitting from systematic violation of US immigration laws. This involves large companies that violate US immigration laws to reduce labor costs or to avoid complying with US working conditions regulations. We also have major companies that are profitting from violation of US immigration laws as lenders or property owners. Unfortunately, conservatives have focused on immigration regulation enforcement that focuses on punishing the immigrants themselves. Progressives have been reluctant study the body of work on immigration seriously and ask what range of solutions are compatible with maintaining a democratic and egalitarian society.
The US gets 10 Million applications for immigration each year-and admits only 1 million. In those specific occupations that have been most heavily targeted by immigration regulation-notably unskilled labor and technical occupations, we have seen deterioration of wages and working conditions and displacement of Americans.
The latest proposed immigration legislation grants a huge amnesty to corporate criminals. The profits made here are huge-potentially trillions of dollars.
Corporate America has made a huge mess at the expense of the public-and needs to be held accountable.
Opinionated: You're probably right -- since the fall from self-determined hunter-gatherer societies (rise of so-called civilization) and the numbing-down of our species in some ways, many people are so much domesticated cattle.
Then maybe it's not an all-or-nothing thing. We just need to convince the cattle that some of us are wild bison, and while they themselves may enjoy the fenced game preserves and have no worries about the butcher, they should at least leave us alone.
debeltway: Seems Mokhiber has been involved for YEARS in scrutinizing, recording and publicizing the abysmal record of MANY corporations. This is a short list, not the whole comprehensive account of what he has made it his lifework to chronicle. I personally would like to thank him for this important effort, as stupid TV shows like "COPS" make the public focus on "crime" as what some poor desperate fool does, not what is routinely done to clean out the U.S. treasury while fleecing its citizens' pocketbooks. What still astounds me is the FACT no press person came forward exposing the degree to which the BUSH family was involved with the S & L scam that cost this nation billions, the biggest heist UP till this Iraqi debacle with equal amounts disappearing down the rabbit hole of unaccountability. Sure beats the wild, wild west for profit!
Thank you Russell.
I get quite tired of corporations being decryed as evil. If they are, I have yet to hear a single person suggest anything we could do about it other than the rather unrealistic "armed revolt" folks, and the occasional lone-wolf speaker for Voluntary Simplicity. People, in general, won't even boycott Walmart. My observation is that people want the security of being corporate serfs.
Well, there's arguably fundamental problem with centralized power under any hat. I'd encourage you to look at this in non-dualistic terms. There's the Green TKV, anarchism (as promulgated by 19th century intellectuals), communitarianism, and related decentralized models.
The crux of the problem isn't the white collar crooks (alphas). Not at all -- they're quite in the minority. Rather, the betas who act as enforcers, and the gammas who are either apathetic, disorganized, fooled, or whatnot as the case may be. If people could be properly organized, the problem would be solved in a fortnight.
If only we got "tough" on corporate crime. If anyone deserves to be dragged out of a car and beaten by a cop, it's these supracapitalist villians.
Wasn't it George Carlin who proposed the idea of having these guys executed live on national television? Man, a show like that would blow American Idol out of the water. Of course, don't expect old Rupert Murdoch to green light that idea, lest he be tied to a stake his damn self.
One really doesn't need a doctorate in economics to see what the problem is.
Articles like these are why I embrace socialism. Capitalism is like Rogaine. It only works for a fraction of the people.
Russell what about corporate crime happening overseas? What about the Bechtels, Blackwaters and Halliburtons in the Middle East? The issue is corporate crime has gone global and is the modern day piracy of our times. They've done the same thing in Latin America, South America, Africa and East Asia. Indonesia is a prime example of corporate exploitation of a developing nation. "Confessions of An Economic Hitman" is one novel that touches upon this very subject. Russel you need to add this to your list!
They continue to say Freedom is not free. Then we send our children off to fight these blood for oil and profit wars. They create enough chaos and confusion to enable corruption and cronism. They always forget about the responsibility that is required for us to maintain our freedom. These thugs are not held to account, and easily evade responsibility by a system that they themselves put in place. No accountability, no responsibility.
I do not blame people for wanting to watch American Idol or whatever they do. We are busy people, and we should be able to enjoy the things we like to do. Leaders should hold themselves and others to account. They should be above reproach. Now that we know that they are not, it is our responsibility to inform as many people as we can. This forum is great, I look forward to reading it and others daily. I guess it is time for people to participate in this democracy before it is too late. Keep up the good work.
Freedom is not free, it requires responsibility.
They should all be in jail. We would be.
Shh. Money talks.
Russell's point #3 is really the seminal point about corporate crime ---- that the overwhelming weight of the law and the overwhemling weight of the legal profession is totally engulfed in defining corporate crime as "not a crime at all".
The largest body of law in the US and the greatest volumn of legal talent are engaged precisely in insuring that the writing of laws and the application of laws are exactly to excuse corporations from any substantial law itself.
The main purpose of corporate law specifically, and of much of US Congressionally passed laws, is to insure that the ability of corporations to profit through negative externalization of their costs is either disguised or raised to the status of partiotic purpose.
Corporate capitalism, of course, is the perfect form of legal and economic structure to serve the interests of economic Empire --- while social democracy is the legal and economic structure to serve the interests of the 'common-wealth' of citizens (ie. promoting positive externalities, such as education, environment, freedom, liberty, protection, stability, etc).
So we are left with the proposition that 'corporate crime' is really not a crime at all, but merely the appropriate end of laws which at their heart are specifically desinged to allow (and even applaud) the non-crime of extracting profits purely by dumping costs on all others --- including, of course, our collapsing environment.
What a country! What a set of corporate laws!
PS. Corporate lawyers should not be singled out as the sector of our government and private enterprize scheme getting wealthy on making it 'legal' to steal through negative externalization. After all, the investment and accounting professions more than do their part by entirely disquising and 'taking off the books' the fact that negative externalities even exist or are accounted for in financial terms.
I agree with you about creating a national telephone number for reporting corporate crimes (congress also needs to put quite a lot of money behind this, however). I was also somewhat stunned to see that the FBI number you mentioned was not an 800 number (the better to track the caller with, I'm sure).
I've commented to friends for years that every corporate-related bill passed in congress should have the following:
First, a clear description of the penalties should be made, including incarceration, fines, and who in the corporation will be held responsible. That is, it is the responsibility of the CEO, CFO, vice presidents, BOD, etc, to make sure that the law is not broken, and if it is, then they will be jailed even if they were not "directly" responsible (that is, they did not necessarily plan to break the law even though, by their actions (or inactions) the law was broken; for example, think negligent homicide). This way, the Skillings and Lays of the corporate world will not be able to plead "I was being paid these hundreds of millions of dollars per year to run the company, but I really didn't know what was going on" defense.
Second, before each law is passed, it should be given to a group of convicted corporate felons who have served their time and who are now hired by the government for their "skills" (much like the FBI hiring cyber crime convicts to help them combat cyber crime). These former convicts would look at each law with the intent of determining how best to circumvent them for financial benefit (personal or corporate). The laws should then be modified to exclude these loopholes.
One of the huge weaknesses in creating laws is that little thought is given on how to go around them when they are written (except for those, like the Patriot Act and the Military Commision Act, where their language and the rapidity of their passage were clearly designed to povide "flexibility" in their application and interpretation). We write laws in order to provide some control over an exceedingly complex society, but we need to review them in terms of how they can be abused. And who better to review the laws than those people who found the previous loopholes.
The founding fathers new of the problems associated with corporations, and tried to write a document which minimized their power. Unfortunately, we, the people, have allowed our elected officials to pervert the laws to the benefit of the "not-people". Just like the frog in the slowly heated pot, we tend to be oblivious to the effects of small changes in the world around us until we find ourselves in boiling water, where it's almost too late. However, history has shown us that it is never *too* late, regardless of the situation - All empires eventually fall (although it may take more than our lifetime for the fall to occur).
Of course Corporations don't get prosecuted, they have rewritten the rules to the game and are now above the law. Worse yet, the American people have fallen asleep at the polls and let it happen.
Americans have been told the price of freedom is fighting wars overseas to protect our freedoms at home. Unfortunately, too many Americans are naive and believe it. True, you do need to fight to maintain your freedom, but the fight is in Washington, in the State Legislatures not in Iraq. It is easier to send your neighbor's kid off to war to get shot-up and die for no reason at all than to expend your personal time and energy to be informed, write your representatives and vote. Americans are very apolitical and gullible, as a result, we get the government we deserve.
"I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenege our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country." - Thomas Jefferson, 1812.
"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. Already they have raised up a moneyed aristocracy that has set the Government at defiance. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people to whom it properly belongs." - Thomas Jefferson
These are but just a few of the thoughts of our founding fathers, who saw even back in the formative days of our country the damages and corruption that vast sums of money in the hands of a few individuals can cause. Yet legally, in this country at least, corporations have the same rights and liberties as living individuals. One obvious problem of this legal status is that corporations are non-living entities whose sole purpose for existence is to make a profit, regardless of the damge they do in the process. Why, for Pete's sake, did we ever allow this to be? Now that the box has been opened, we will never be able to close it again. Because of the huge sums of money available to the corporate entities, they will always prevail over the individual as someone, somewhere along the path to justice will be willing to sell everybody else out for the benefit of themself. This makes a pretty sad statement about the nature of the human species.
I just want to say thank you for this article. Corporate Crime is the most devastating crime in our country, from killing our citizens at home, to being behind the lobby for them to kill and die abroad. Corporate power MUST be broken if we are to restore safety to ourselves and our loved ones. I love this article. I love the comparison of violent crime and "corporate crime". I have always wondered how CIGARETTES were not an act of violence. No mass murderer has ever achieved the numbers that cigarette companies achieved as a casual matter of course. The coal lobby will have mercury in your drinking water, incrreasing the already high incidence of autism in America. If causing mental damage of that severity to our children is not violence, I don't know what is. Thank you for this clear article that cuts to the heart of Corporate America (or, would if it HAD a heart).
Can't wait to see this in the New York Times...
Excellent article. THe public is all to often fooled by the track record of prosecutors who seek public office. I was fooled by Eliot Spitzer - but as recent actions show, this article is right on the mark.
Politicians will continue to do their utmost to provide cover for corporate criminals until the corporate criminals are banned from manipulating elections - our entire political process, from the city to the state to the nation, is a system of legalized bribery.
JEEEEZUS!!! if only i had that kind of "corporate personhood...."
must reading. Bravo, Mokhibar!
and if you had any doubts about fascism in this country....