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Corporate Crime and Punishment: The Crisis of Underenforcement
"Professor Coffee's compelling new approach to holding fraudsters to account is indispensable reading for any lawmaker serious about deterring corporate crime."
--Robert Jackson, former Commissioner, Securities and Exchange Commission
In the early 2000s, federal enforcement efforts sent white collar criminals at Enron and WorldCom to prison. But since the 2008 financial collapse, this famously hasn't happened. Corporations have been permitted to enter into deferred prosecution agreements and avoid criminal convictions, in part due to a mistaken assumption that leniency would encourage cooperation and because enforcement agencies don't have the funding or staff to pursue lengthy prosecutions, says distinguished Columbia Law Professor John C. Coffee. "We are moving from a system of justice for organizational crime that mixed carrots and sticks to one that is all carrots and no sticks," he says.
He offers a series of bold proposals for ensuring that corporate malfeasance can once again be punished. For example, he describes incentives that could be offered to both corporate executives to turn in their corporations and to corporations to turn in their executives, allowing prosecutors to play them off against each other. Whistleblowers should be offered cash bounties to come forward because, Coffee writes, "it is easier and cheaper to buy information than seek to discover it in adversarial proceedings." All federal enforcement agencies should be able to hire outside counsel on a contingency fee basis, which would cost the public nothing and provide access to discovery and litigation expertise the agencies don't have. Through these and other equally controversial ideas, Coffee intends to rebalance the scales of justice.
--Robert Jackson, former Commissioner, Securities and Exchange Commission
In the early 2000s, federal enforcement efforts sent white collar criminals at Enron and WorldCom to prison. But since the 2008 financial collapse, this famously hasn't happened. Corporations have been permitted to enter into deferred prosecution agreements and avoid criminal convictions, in part due to a mistaken assumption that leniency would encourage cooperation and because enforcement agencies don't have the funding or staff to pursue lengthy prosecutions, says distinguished Columbia Law Professor John C. Coffee. "We are moving from a system of justice for organizational crime that mixed carrots and sticks to one that is all carrots and no sticks," he says.
He offers a series of bold proposals for ensuring that corporate malfeasance can once again be punished. For example, he describes incentives that could be offered to both corporate executives to turn in their corporations and to corporations to turn in their executives, allowing prosecutors to play them off against each other. Whistleblowers should be offered cash bounties to come forward because, Coffee writes, "it is easier and cheaper to buy information than seek to discover it in adversarial proceedings." All federal enforcement agencies should be able to hire outside counsel on a contingency fee basis, which would cost the public nothing and provide access to discovery and litigation expertise the agencies don't have. Through these and other equally controversial ideas, Coffee intends to rebalance the scales of justice.
216 pages, Hardcover
Published August 4, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 27, 2021
This is a helluva book. All the wraps and woofs of why corporations have gotten away with malfeasance is all there. Mr. Coffee is a very good writer that exposes how white-collar crime gets away with things. Its a disappointing book. This is so because is so because it magnifies everything that has happened. He does not pull punches. i got this book via the Leominster Public Library which I'm very grateful.
February 8, 2022
A must read for anyone interested in knowing why so few corporate executives are prosecuted, why that’s the case and what can be done about it.
January 14, 2024
Great topic about underenforcement of white collar crime. Written much like an academic paper, but thoroughly explores the legal ramifications, and recent high profile cases of corporate malfeasance.
February 10, 2025
Informative, interesting and insightful, Corporate Crime and Punishment by John C. Coffee, Jr. talks about corporate crimes and proposes different methods to punish the perpetrators better legislatively.
Summary: Federal enforcement efforts on white-collar criminals have come a long way. However, some may argue that corporations get away with severe punishment very easily, especially with the frequent use of deferred prosecution agreements (DPA). The author suggests several methods that can be used to indict corporations more effectively.
Tropes/Genres:
• non-fiction
• crime
• corporate crime
• punishment
Review: This book is very informative and on-point. The author adequately substantiates his points, even admitting the reality of the difficulty in implementing his proposals. The ideas are paced and ordered properly, allowing for the ease of digesting his ideas.
"Corporate history, if ignored, repeats itself."
This review isn't going to be long because this book is primarily informative. The author briefly dives into the history of corporate crime law enforcement and offers proposals for how the government can do better in bringing offenders to justice. He brings up DPAs, investigations and equity fines, which are such interesting points.
Implementing the changes suggested by the author would be a challenge, especially considering the expected backlash from business entities and even prosecutors. The current system in the United States favours DPAs, which are easy for both sides, even if they may be perceived as a light punishment or, in other words, underenforcement. The author acknowledges this reality and lets readers understand the difficult position of prosecutors and other law enforcement officials. However, he makes great points about the need for change in the system to increase individual accountability when it comes to corporate crime.
"The simple truth is that old dogs do not learn new tricks—except under some compulsion. Bureaucracies persist in the old ways until they are forced to change. That may prove the largest obstacle to real reform."
In conclusion, I recommend this book to people who are interested in corporate crime and how perpetrators are punished in the United States. With the extensive use of corporate and legal terms, though, some may struggle to understand the writing. Do note that this book provides ideas based on the American context and may not apply to other countries.
Summary: Federal enforcement efforts on white-collar criminals have come a long way. However, some may argue that corporations get away with severe punishment very easily, especially with the frequent use of deferred prosecution agreements (DPA). The author suggests several methods that can be used to indict corporations more effectively.
Tropes/Genres:
• non-fiction
• crime
• corporate crime
• punishment
Review: This book is very informative and on-point. The author adequately substantiates his points, even admitting the reality of the difficulty in implementing his proposals. The ideas are paced and ordered properly, allowing for the ease of digesting his ideas.
"Corporate history, if ignored, repeats itself."
This review isn't going to be long because this book is primarily informative. The author briefly dives into the history of corporate crime law enforcement and offers proposals for how the government can do better in bringing offenders to justice. He brings up DPAs, investigations and equity fines, which are such interesting points.
Implementing the changes suggested by the author would be a challenge, especially considering the expected backlash from business entities and even prosecutors. The current system in the United States favours DPAs, which are easy for both sides, even if they may be perceived as a light punishment or, in other words, underenforcement. The author acknowledges this reality and lets readers understand the difficult position of prosecutors and other law enforcement officials. However, he makes great points about the need for change in the system to increase individual accountability when it comes to corporate crime.
"The simple truth is that old dogs do not learn new tricks—except under some compulsion. Bureaucracies persist in the old ways until they are forced to change. That may prove the largest obstacle to real reform."
In conclusion, I recommend this book to people who are interested in corporate crime and how perpetrators are punished in the United States. With the extensive use of corporate and legal terms, though, some may struggle to understand the writing. Do note that this book provides ideas based on the American context and may not apply to other countries.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews