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Date: November 22, 2024 Fri
Time: 11:41 am
Time: 11:41 am
Results for corporate crime (u.s.)
3 results foundAuthor: Stickeler, Charles Nickolas Title: A Deadly Way of Doing Business: A Case Study of Corporate Crime in the Coal Mining Industry Summary: To this point, research on corporate crime has been, for the most part, overlooked by mainstream criminology. In particular, corporate violations of safety regulations in the coal mining industry have yet to be studied within the field of criminology. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the crimes of a coal mining corporation, a corporation whose business decisions led to the worst coal mining disaster in forty years, along with the deaths of twenty-nine men. This thesis will utilize a case study format in order to illustrate the crimes committed by this corporation. Previous literature covering the history of coal mining safety in the United States, the political economy of coal, and theoretical explanations of corporate crime will be reviewed. The crimes detailed in this case study will then be explained using Contextual Anomie/Strain Theory. The criminal liability of corporations, potential ways to reduce corporate crime in the coal mining industry, as well as limitations of this study and directions for future research in this area will also be discussed. Details: University of South Florida, 2012. 91p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed November 23, 2012 at: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5427&context=etd Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5427&context=etd Shelf Number: 126951 Keywords: Coal Mining IndustryCorporate Crime (U.S.)Criminal LiabilityDisastersWhite-Collar Crime |
Author: Bradshaw, Elizabeth A. Title: Deepwater, Deep Ties, Deep Trouble: A State- Corporate Environmental Crime Analysis of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Summary: The 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill was one of the worst environmental disasters of all time. Using the concept of state-corporate environmental crime, this project applies a case study analysis of secondary data sources including publicly available government reports, corporate documents, academic sources and journalistic accounts to examine the causes of the blowout and the response to the spill. Building on Michalowski and Kramer’s Integrated Theoretical Model of State-Corporate Crime, this study introduces an additional level of analysis- that of the industry- between the organizational and institutional levels. The causes of the Deepwater Horizon explosion are rooted both in the history of federal development of the offshore oil industry, and the organizational actions of the corporations most directly involved: BP, Transocean and Halliburton. Undertaken in close coordination between the federal government and BP, alongside privately contracted oil spill response organizations, the response to the spill can be classified as a state-facilitated corporate cover up of the environmental crimes in the Gulf. This was accomplished through scientific propaganda and censorship of images and information. Working together, BP and the Obama administration sought to downplay the size of the spill and its effects. An unprecedented amount of toxic chemical dispersants were applied at the surface and directly at the wellhead in an effort to conceal the amount of oil. Federal restrictions blocked access to cleanup operations, beaches and airspace, thereby limiting public visibility of the spill. Policing the media blackout was an intricate matrix of federal and local law enforcement, and private security companies hired by BP. Suppression of images and information helped to contain public outrage while allowing BP and the federal government to carry out dangerous response measures with little oversight. As this study demonstrates, the most recent spill is not an isolated instance of state-corporate environmental crime, but rather is the result of the criminogenic structure of the deepwater oil industry. Details: Kalamazoo, MI: Western Michigan University, 2012. 274p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed February 14, 2013 at: http://scholarworks.wmich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1078&context=dissertations Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://scholarworks.wmich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1078&context=dissertations Shelf Number: 127613 Keywords: Corporate Crime (U.S.)Offenses Against the EnvironmentOil IndustryOil Spills |
Author: Anderson, James M. Title: The Changing Role of Criminal Law in Controlling Corporate Behavior Summary: What should be the role of the criminal law in controlling corporate behavior, and how can the execution of that role be improved? On the one hand, corporations have enormous power, and, when a corporation causes harm, there is a natural instinct to apply criminal sanctions, society's most serious expression of moral disapproval. In the wake of a harm in which a corporation had a prominent role, there are often calls for an increased use of the criminal law to tame corporate excesses. On the other hand, criminal liability has historically usually required criminal intent, a concept that applies oddly to a legal construction, such as a corporation. And more recently, critics have decried what they have termed the overcriminalization of corporate behavior, suggesting that there has been an overreliance on the use of criminal law in this context. To provide guidance to policymakers on the proper role of criminal sanctions in this context, RAND Corporation researchers (1) measure the current use of criminal sanctions in controlling corporate behavior, (2) describe how the current regime developed, and (3) offer suggestions about how the use of criminal sanctions to control corporate behavior might be improved. Key Findings There Is Mixed Evidence About the Changing Role of Criminal Law in Regulating and Controlling Corporate Activity - With the exceptions of the application of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the number of criminal prosecutions of corporations has declined in recent years, suggesting less formal prosecutorial activity rather than more. However, use of deferred-prosecution agreements (DPAs), non-prosecution agreements (NPAs), and debarment activity has increased sharply, suggesting that the threat of criminal action is still playing an important role in controlling behavior in this context. Recommendations - Recognize that criminal sanctions in this context are instrumental tools and not moral judgments. Lawmakers should be reluctant to pass statutes that punish without proof of criminal intent, courts should be reluctant to interpret statutes in ways that ignore criminal intent, and prosecutors should bring such prosecutions sparingly. - Have judges review deferred-prosecution and non-prosecution agreements. This practice would provide some assurance that the agreements are genuinely in the public interest and might allow third parties affected by the agreements to air their objections in a neutral forum. Policymakers should give serious consideration to requiring that every DPA and NPA be reviewed by an appropriate federal judge. This practice would provide additional transparency and reassure the public that justice was being served. - Carefully review debarment provisions. Debarment decisions should be made on a case-by-case basis by the relevant governmental agency, depending on the severity of the allegations made and their relevance to the domain of the governmental entity. - Consider substituting the use of civil sanctions. In many cases, civil sanctions that include formal fact-finding might function as well as or better than criminal sanctions. Details: Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2014. 146p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 9, 2015 at: http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR412.html Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR412.html Shelf Number: 134766 Keywords: Civil SanctionsCorporate Crime (U.S.)Criminal Law Criminal SanctionsProsecutionSarbanes-Oxley ActWhite Collar Crime |