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Guidance on Charging Corporations
John Richter, the chief of staff for the Criminal Division in the U.S. Department of Justice, made remarks at an ABA conference sponsored by the Business Law Section on Nov. 19 about how federal prosecutors decide whether to charge a corporation with a criminal offense. In January 2003, the so-called Thompson Memo (Principles of Federal
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Judge Upholds Sarbanes-Oxley Criminal Provision
U.S. District Judge Karon O. Bowdre (N.D. Ala) issued an opinion dated Nov. 23–but apparently not released until Nov. 29–rejecting Richard Scrushy’s vagueness challenge to the CEO/CFO certification provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The provision, now codified at 18 U.S.C. § 1350, provides: Whoever–(1) certifies any statement as set forth in subsections (a) and (b)
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Expanding Federal Criminal Law
A post here on Nov. 25 mentioned, inter alia, Congressional consideration of a bill to criminalize interstate trafficking in horsemeat for human consumption. An article by Trent England and Paul Rosenzweig in The American Spectator notes: "Ironically, the ‘American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act’ is not about preventing the slaughter of horses. It does nothing to
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Going to Trial
Why do prosecutors take a case to trial? A forthcoming article by two economists, Cheryl X. Long (Colgate) and Richard T. Boylan (Alabama) seeks to answer, at least in part, the question by looking at the local labor markets in which Assistant United States Attorneys operate. The article, "Salaries, Plea Rates, and the Career Objectives
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Beware of Donors
Virtually every university (and law school) needs to engage in serious fundraising these days. A problem arises when a donor gets in hot water over personal improprieties or, even worse, is charged (and convicted) of a crime. The University of Missouri has been in the center of a controversy over the removal of the name
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Money Laundering on Tuesday’s Supreme Court Docket
This Tuesday the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in a case that is important to white collar crime law, as the case will determine whether the crime of conspiracy to commit money laundering under 18 U.S.C. 1956 requires an overt act. The reason that this case is significant to white collar prosecutions and defense
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W.R. Grace & Co. Facing Environmental Charges
W.R. Grace & Co., a large chemicals company that filed for bankruptcy due to asbestos liabilities, disclosed in an SEC filing that it is the target of a federal grand jury investigation related to its vermiculite mining and processing activities in Libby, Montana. According to the company’s 8-K filing with the SEC: Grace understands that
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Export Control Case
Last week was not a good week for some individuals associated with Fiber Materials, Inc and Materials International, Inc. That’s because the First Circuit vacated a judgment of acquittal notwithstanding the verdict and reinstated defendants’ convictions. The court remanded the case back to the District Court. (The court was not willing to accept the double
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Corporate Homicide – In Scotland
Toughening up on corporate crime is not unique to the United States. Scotland is planning a corporate homicide law. BBC News reports that "[p]lans have been announced for a specific offence for corporate and public bodies which cause death through failures of management." The law is a reaction to the fact that "[i]n June 2003,
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Overcriminalization
Overcriminalization is a legal issue that is prominent in the white collar crime area. It is also an area that is not unique to one political philosophy. Take for example a recent symposium at American University, Washington College of Law, sponsored by the American University Law Review, The Heritage Foundation, and the National Association of
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