Today, we co-published a story with
the New York Times Magazine on the rise of corporate impunity. In sum: a series of missteps by the Department
of Justice has left the agency ill-equipped to go after individuals at the top
echelons of Corporate America. Now, in addition to banks that are Too Big To
Fail, we have companies
and CEOs that are Too Big To Prosecute.
The number
of white-collar cases chased by the Department of Justice has fallen from an
average of 17.6 percent of all federal cases in the mid-90s, to just 9.4
percent in the past five years. The agency received major backlash after
shutting down consulting firm Arthur Andersen in 2002 and leaving tens of
thousands out of a job.
After a federal judge ruled that the Justice
Department violated constitutional rights by asking KPMG. executives to waive
attorney-client privilege, the agency has become so cautious that it rarely
acts against corporate indiscretion. Though Lehman Brothers misled the public
about how much cash it had on hand before it filed for bankruptcy, the
Department of Justice doesn’t appear to have pursued the investigation
aggressively.
Why is the
Justice Department failing to tackle the most basic questions in cases of
wrongdoing? What would it take to beef up their capacity for prosecution? And if
we do so, are these companies and people really above the law?
Join us on Reddit on May 1 at 11 A.M. EST to ask
Jesse your questions. We’ll update this post Thursday morning with the link.
Afterward, we’ll round up the best questions and answers.
You can also leave questions in advance in the
comments here, or tweet them with #AskProPub.
Joleen Chambers •
Our democracy has been purchased by corporations (look at
SCOTUS decision Citizens United). It is time to change this back by withdrawing
their legal ability to do business in this country, informing the public so
that the demand for their 'products' drops and jailing the human leaders that
perpetrate crimes on the U.S. population. The entitled and empowered medical
device industry is prime for this focus!
http://www.propublica.org/article/the-rise-of-corporate-impunity
Link to story with New York Times Magazine
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