NCJ Number
186520
Date Published
2000
Length
27 pages
Annotation
State crime in the United States is discussed in the context of the "thug State," political crime, State complicity with corporate crime, and crime committed by intelligence and police agencies.
Abstract
The central feature of the thug State is the growing influence of intelligence and police power. Controlling the thug State requires a critical perspective on State power since the thug State has developed sophisticated systems of surveillance. In the area of political crime, corporate money is the deciding factor in nearly all electoral contests and debates over public policy, and corporations commit State crime when they buy politicians to enact legislation or government policies that serve their interests. Although corporate crime can involve price fixing, monopoly power, manufacturing unsafe products, and environmental damage, perhaps the most egregious area involving State complicity with corporate crime is in the area of labor-management relations. Tactics used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other intelligence agencies in the political arena are reviewed, as well as illegal activities of police agencies. The authors conclude controlling State crime requires an informed public with the courage to demand the administrative and constitutional control of powerful State agencies and corporate elites. 7 notes