NCJ Number
129590
Date Published
1991
Length
9 pages
Annotation
The Federal Government has assumed a more active role than most States in imposing criminal liability upon corporations.
Abstract
Federal criminal statutes are generally construed to include corporations, partnerships, and similar entities despite the absence of direct reference to such organizations in statutory language. The general rule in Federal courts is that corporations are criminally liable for the acts of employees performed within the scope of their employment and for the benefit of the corporate employer. Misconduct by corporate management or supervisory employees is not necessary for imposing criminal liability upon the corporation. Moreover, the government is not required to prove that criminal conduct actually benefited the corporation; the corporation may be convicted even if it is actually harmed by an act the employee believed to be in its interests. Further, a corporation may be held criminally liable for the acts of subsidiaries or their employees, where the subsidiary is an agent and its employees are sub-agents of the corporate parent. Corporate criminal liability has also been imposed in situations where the illegal act was not only committed without the knowledge of corporate officials but also in defiance of specific instructions forbidding the conduct. Where knowledge is a necessary element of the offense in question, there is no requirement that any one employee be personally aware of all the facts necessary to constitute knowledge. New York State has adopted what appears to be a less expansive standard of corporate criminal liability than that adopted by Federal courts. Adverse consequences of corporate criminal liability investigations are discussed in terms of punishment, stigma, and collateral legal consequences. 2 notes