NCJ Number
104283
Journal
Criminal Justice Journal Volume: 8 Issue: 2 Dated: (1986) Pages: 327-361
Date Published
1986
Length
35 pages
Annotation
The legal liability of a corporation should not overshadow the criminal liability of culpable individuals who have performed criminal actions through employment-associated operations.
Abstract
The law has at various times treated corporations as entities and as associations of persons. To treat a corporation as an entity ignores that it could not exist or act without individuals, and to treat it as an association of persons overlooks the power of its collectiveness and the potential for wrongdoing that transcends the actions of individuals. Although focusing criminal proceedings on a corporation as an entity does not preclude the prosecution of corporation employees, the prosecution of individuals often becomes secondary. Check kiting by E.F. Hutton employees in 1980 is a case in point. For certain crimes involving specific intent or moral blameworthiness, statutes should require prosecutors to proceed against the culpable individuals prior to consideration of corporate criminal liability. This would ensure that evidence pertaining to individual actions and role relations within the corporation would be examined by the court. Pursuant to this endeavor, the prosecutor could determine to what extent the corporation as well as the individuals were blameworthy. Overall, this procedure would ensure that sanctions appropriate to the crime would be imposed. 176 footnotes.