Deck 8: Prosecuting Corporate Crime in the Twenty-First Century

Question 1

Which of the following is not true regarding the detection of corporate crimes?

A) corporate crimes are more difficult to detect than street crimes
B) citizens do not often know that they have been victimized
C) crimes must be brought to the attention of the police before they can be prosecuted
D) corporate offenders are often detected because they are often at the scene of the illegal activity

Answer 1

D

Question 2

When prosecutors are deciding whether to prosecute a corporation, they must consider the purpose or reason for such a prosecution. Which of the following would not be considered a purpose for prosecuting such corporations?

A) the case could potentially deter other corporations from committing a crime
B) to educate the business community
C) to educate the general public
D) to ensure that corporations get their "just desserts"
E) to increase their reputation in the legal community

Answer 2

E

Question 3

What or who would prosecutors rely upon in building a case against a corporation?

A) current or former employees of the corporation
B) information collected in civil cases against the corporation
C) experts that are able to analyze and interpret the complex evidence collected
D) all the above

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Under which conditions are corporate prosecutions more likely to take place?

A) in large urban counties
B) in small rural counties such as where the Pinto case was tried
C) in cases in which the alleged misconduct is less serious in nature
D) when regulatory controls have been shown to be effective

Question 5

What types of corporations are sentenced more frequently under the Federal Organizational Guidelines?

A) those that had a small number of owners, were in business less than 10 years, and had less than 10 employees
B) those that were owned by one person, were in business more than 20 years, and had more than 200 employees
C) those who had a few owners, were in business less than two years, and had very few employees
D) those who were family owned, were in business more than 50 years, and had about 25 employees

Question 6

Which of the following is true regarding the Arthur Anderson case?

A) the corporation no longer exists because of the conviction
B) the corporation was found guilty of obstructing justice, although the Supreme Court later overturned the conviction
C) 45 individuals were found guilty of obstructing justice, but the company is still in operation
D) the case showed that individuals could still be prosecuted for corporate crimes

Question 7

Since the Pinto case, what are three of the most significant influential changes in criminal liability?

A) Organizational Sentencing Guidelines
B) the U.S. Department Corporate Prosecution Guidance
C) the "collective knowledge" doctrine of the U.S. v. Bank of New England
D) all the above

Question 8

Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the two mitigating factors in reducing corporate fines for wrongdoing include voluntary disclosure of wrongdoing and implementing programs to prevent and detect corporate crimes.

Question 9

Under the "collective knowledge" doctrine, an organization's knowledge includes:

A) the combined knowledge of all its employees
B) the combined knowledge of only employees in management roles
C) the combined knowledge of top executives
D) the combined knowledge of the company president or CEO

Question 10

According to the authors of Corporate Crime Under Attack, which of the following would critics use as a reason why corporations should not be subjected to criminal laws?

A) corporation can be effectively deterred
B) civil remedies are extremely costly
C) consumers and shareholders will bear the cost
D) regulatory agencies have failed

Question 11

Which of the following would be an example of the law's distributive function?

A) having a company install a new sprinkler system to attempt to reduce deaths in case of another fire
B) having a company create a new safety mechanism for machinery to reduce future injuries of employees
C) having a company create a policy to store oxygen tanks in more areas of mines to increase survival rates of miners in case of an explosion.
D) having a company provide a fair amount of monetary compensation for injuries that have occurred.

Question 12

Which of the following was a parallel between the Pinto case and the Film Recovery Systems case?

A) they both received extensive publicity and nationwide debate
B) in both cases the corporations were found guilty in a court of law
C) they both involved overzealous prosecutors who sought fame and money
D) they both brought to trial due to intense public outcry to hold the corporation accountable for their acts

Question 13

Discuss three of the obstacles that prosecutors confront in prosecuting white-collar and corporate offenders.

Question 14

According to the authors of Corporate Crime Under Attack, what are the three most influential changes in corporate liability and criminality since the Pinto case?

Question 15

Identify and briefly describe the parallels between the Film Recovery Systems workplace murder prosecution and the Ford Pinto reckless homicide prosecution.