Dirt Digger's Digest - We have been hearing plenty this year about the unwillingness
of the Justice Department to bring criminal charges against Donald Trump, but a
new report
from Public Citizen shows there is an even bigger non-prosecution scandal when
it comes to lawbreaking by large corporations.
Soft on Corporate Crime is a detailed analysis of the
long-standing yet still disturbing practice by which big companies found to be
involved in serious misconduct are given a sweet deal not typically available
to individual criminals. These deals, known as non-prosecution and deferred
prosecution agreements, allow the company to avoid criminal charges if it
admits to the wrongdoing, pays a penalty, and signs an agreement that leaves
open the prospect of future prosecution if the bad behavior continues.
Using data from the Corporate Prosecution Registry,
Public Citizen examined the 535 NPAs and DPAs the Justice Department
has entered into since 1992. The report finds that the practice
originated in the Clinton Administration and has been used widely during
both Democratic and Republican presidencies. The Trump Administration’s
DOJ has continued the trend amid its overall reduction in corporate
prosecutions.
NPAs and DPAs are part of a fundamental unwillingness of the U.S.
justice system to get really tough with corporate miscreants, no matter
how egregious their behavior.
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