NCJ Number
138028
Journal
Boston University Law Review Volume: 71 Issue: 2 Dated: (March 1991) Pages: 189-453
Editor(s)
M S Corwin
Date Published
1991
Length
265 pages
Annotation
Six major papers presented at the National Conference on Sentencing of the Corporation (October 25, 1990, in Washington, D.C.) provide a critical examination of the theoretical bases for corporate criminal liability and corporate sentencing. Comments on the papers are included.
Abstract
The first session, which focused on white-collar crime and the sentencing of corporations, consisted of two papers. One considered what type of corporate wrongdoing should be subjected to criminal sanctions, as tort and crime distinctions are considered with reference to corporate wrongdoing. The second paper in the first session identified and assessed what has been occurring in the sentencing of corporations over the past few years. The second session, which addressed corporate governance and corporate crime, contained presentations that discussed the impact of shifting from individual liability to corporate liability for criminal actions by corporate employees. This session included theoretical discussions from the perspective of the economics of agency theory and from the perspective of organization theory. The third session, which focused on penal theory and the control of criminal conduct in organizations, presented two different theoretical approaches to the control of criminal conduct by individuals within organizations. A former member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission defended the application of the economic theory of optimal penalties to criminal actions within corporations. The second paper presented a prosecutorial perspective on crime within organizations and discussed justifications for the prosecution of organizations rather than the individuals who made the choice to violate the law. Article footnotes