NCJ Number
148285
Journal
Nebraska Law Review Volume: 71 Issue: 4 Dated: (1992) Pages: 1049-1094
Date Published
1992
Length
46 pages
Annotation
The sentencing of corporations is discussed.
Abstract
This article argues that Congress' failure to make meaningful statutory reforms to the United States Code over the last 20 years has compromised the value of the recently enacted sentencing guidelines for organizations. In passing the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 (SRA), which gave rise to these new guidelines, Congress proceeded as if there were no logical connection between the substantive law and the law of sentencing. Part I of the article reviews general principles of corporate liability; Part II examines preconviction assessment of culpability; Part III considers postconviction assessment of culpability; Part IV discusses sentencing in relation to culpability; and Part V briefly contrasts proposals for determining genuine corporate intent with culpability provisions found in extant law. In Parts VI and VII, the author concludes that the SRA is compromised if issues relating to culpability and liability remain unresolved. An appendix lists mental state terms and combinations thereof in Title 18, found by the Brown Commission in 1970, and by the author in 1992. Footnotes