NCJ Number
92249
Journal
Southern California Law Review Volume: 56 Issue: 6 Dated: (September 1983) Pages: 1141-1246
Date Published
1983
Length
103 pages
Annotation
While some argue that the only significant goal of corporate criminal law is deterrence and that this goal can be attained by means of monetary penalties and other civil sanctions, this article holds that a broader view of corporate criminal law should be adopted and that reconstruction, not abolition, of corporate criminal law is needed to attain these goals.
Abstract
Decriminalization would be premature without considering what might be done to reconstruct corporate criminal law in all aspects -substantive liability, sentencing, evidence, and procedure. However, constructive proposals are currently scarce because of the prevailing assumption that the theoretical underpinnings of corporate criminal liability are insufficiently sound to carry the weight of reconstruction. This article maintains that corporate criminal law should be rebuilt. The offense of contempt has several advantages as a beginning point. Reactive corporate fault would be largely a refinement of the mens rea now required for criminal contempt, and it would be unnecessary to subject corporations to a revolutionary sweep of statutory duties. Finally, corporate defendants would have fair notice of their reactive duties and courts could carefully apply the concept of reactive corporate fault in a manner responsive to the facts of each particular case. In developing new sanctions against corporate offenders, courts could create a wide range of sentencing options by exploiting their inherent power to fashion sanctions for the offense of criminal contempt. A total of 514 case notes are supplied. (Author summary modified)