NCJ Number
99293
Journal
St John's Law Review Volume: 58 Issue: 1 Dated: (Fall 1983) Pages: 163-181
Date Published
1983
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This article critiques the Federal court decision in United States v. William Anderson Co., under the provisions of the Federal Probation Act and proposes a form of restitution as an alternative to fines for corporate offenses.
Abstract
The Federal Probation Act enumerates five special probation conditions. A trial judge is not limited to selecting among these special conditions, but courts have generally held that the imposition of a specified condition is subject to limitations recited in the statute. The 'Anderson' court (Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals) held, however, that although a probation order may have been selected from a probation condition specified in the act, the court is not required to comply with the language qualifying that condition. The court directed that the corporate defendants make payments to charitable organizations having no logical relationship to the defendants' antitrust violations. Courts should require corporate defendants to redress their victims through community service and a fluid recovery form of restitution (reducing the cost of the corporate product or service for a specified period). This would compensate the victims, assist in rehabilitating the defendants, and thus conform to the restrictions of the Federal Probation Act. Seventy footnotes are provided. (Author summary modified)