Our penalty and sentencing guidelines are constantly under review, as the number of offenders in a particular crime changes, as governmental focus changes, and as the prisons fill, and them empty again. It seems that in the area of white collar crime, criminal attorneys may soon be seeing lighter penalties for corporations -- however, it is unclear what will happen to individuals.
The prompt -- Arthur Anderson
One of the most prominent and high profile cases that seems to have contributed to this shift in sentencing guidelines is the collapse of Arthur Andersen LLP. The company was convicted of destroying evidence in 2002, and subsequently went out of business. However, in terms of the judgement's impact on people, it was mostly innocents who bore the brunt of this verdict. Thousands of jobs were lost when the company went out of business, and this is neither socially or economically desirable.
Enter the Sentencing Commission
The role of the Sentencing Commission is to advise judges on the expected penalties for certain types of crimes, and also to provide minimum and maximum limitations on sentencing. Watching the Sentencing Commission's publications lets criminal lawyers advise their clients on the possible penalties for their crime. A recent 78-page report included a proposal to reduce the liability of a company for its employees engaging in criminal behaviour.
However…
The company must have programs already in place to combat white collar crime, and generally the compliance officer for the programs must have access to the board of directors for a company, or other equivalent body for smaller companies. The company must also be the ones to report the misconduct to the authorities, which would clearly indicate that it has no part in the alleged activities.
Fort Lauderdale criminal attorneys are supporting the proposal -- it certainly seems to work towards a more just penalty system in our country.
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