NCJ Number
220938
Journal
Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Volume: 97 Issue: 3 Dated: Spring 2007 Pages: 731-760
Date Published
2007
Length
30 pages
Annotation
This article questions the sentencing practices of nonviolent first offenders who commit white collar crimes and the evolution of a system that fails to recognize the unique qualities of white collar offenders.
Abstract
All of criminal law revolves around punishment theory. Laws are created in order to punish conduct that society finds abhorrent. Sentencing of offenders is the last stat of punishment theory. It is the one portion of the criminal process when the court can examine individual culpability in relation to the offense committed. De-emphasizing this consideration because of concerns that class may play a factor in the sentence works to eliminate considerations unique to many corporate white collar offenders. Sentencing needs to remain fluid to account for all considerations. Most importantly, there is the need to infuse into the sentencing process some of the sociological teachings that started the discussion of white collar crime. Sentencing white collar offenders is difficult in that the economic crimes committed clearly injured individuals, but the offenders do not present a physical threat to society. White collar sentences need to be reevaluated. The mathematical computations that form the essence of sentencing in the Federal system fail to recognize the sociological roots of white collar crime. This article examines the necessity of giving too harsh of sentences, in some cases in excess of 25 years, to nonviolent first offenders who commit white collar crimes.