Corporate bodies and guilty minds : the failure of corporate criminal liability / William S. Laufer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Laufer, William S.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Criminal liability of juristic persons--United States.

Criminal liability of juristic persons.

Corporation law--United States--Criminal provisions.

Corporation law.

Corporations--Corrupt practices--United States.

Corporations.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (306 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2006.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

We live in an era defined by corporate greed and malfeasance-one in which unprecedented accounting frauds and failures of compliance run rampant. In order to calm investor fears, revive perceptions of legitimacy in markets, and demonstrate the resolve of state and federal regulators, a host of reforms, high-profile investigations, and symbolic prosecutions have been conducted in response. But are they enough? In this timely work, William S. Laufer argues that even with recent legal reforms, corporate criminal law continues to be ineffective. As evidence, Laufer considers the failure of courts and legislatures to fashion liability rules that fairly attribute blame for organizations. He analyzes the games that corporations play to deflect criminal responsibility. And he also demonstrates how the exchange of cooperation for prosecutorial leniency and amnesty belies true law enforcement. But none of these factors, according to Laufer, trumps the fact that there is no single constituency or interest group that strongly and consistently advocates the importance and priority of corporate criminal liability. In the absence of a new standard of corporate liability, the power of regulators to keep corporate abuses in check will remain insufficient. A necessary corrective to our current climate of graft and greed, Corporate Bodies and Guilty Minds will be essential to policymakers and legal minds alike. "[This] timely work offers a dispassionate analysis of problems relating to corporate crime."-Harvard Law Review

Contents:

The evolution of corporate criminal law

Recognizing personhood

Constructing fault

Playing games

Shifting blame

Crafting a soul

Making and unmaking the pessimist's account.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN:

9786612537325

9781282537323

1282537326

9780226470429

0226470423

OCLC:

593356220