1. Good Job. Regulatory cycles have occurred throughout U.S. history. The first major period of federal regulatory expansion in the 20th century occurred during the Progressive era (1900-1914), when populist sentiments against the abuses of big business became sufficiently intense to promote significant government intervention in harmful corporate and occupational activities on behalf of the public interest. In reality, however, much of the regulation developed during this period was supported by and benefited the newly regulated big businesses. (Friedrichs, 2010).
a. Corporate offenders who are viewed as deliberately breaking laws to maximize profit are regarded by agency personnel as which of the following: Amoral calculators or Political Citizens?
2. The federal government is given the authority it possesses to regulate incidents of white-collar crime in the US, as given this by The Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. There are many federal agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service, the Secret Service, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the FBI which actively participate in enforcing laws established to enforce the law in the white collar sector. States participate in this effort at their level by employing their own agencies. Local police do not get as involved in white collar crime because of the comparatively complex natures of these as compared to common street crimes such as murder or burglary. The prosecution of these is difficult. It is not easy to gather evidence in these, and in most cases local law enforcement is called in after an inquiry has previously been conducted by an organization. This inherent time lapse facilitates the destruction or concealment of evidence. Also the local police have not been trained in detection of white-collar crime ("White Collar Crime", 2013).
a. What have some of the principal disincentives for local police involvement with white collar crime been?
b. What state and federal enforcement agencies have played a role in the investigation of white collar crime?
c. Which factors inhibit, and which factors contribute to, their effectiveness?
3. On the whole, white collar crime offenders are less likely to go to prison and more likely to receive shorter sentences than conventional offenders, and while federal sentencing guidelines have contributed in some measure to stiffer sentences for white collar criminals, they have not addressed this fundamental inequality. Convicted white collar crime offenders make up a very small minority of the U.S. prison population, and those who become a part of it may be sent to minimum-security prisons in "country club" settings or be subject to even less rigorous alternatives, such as house arrest(Friedrichs, 2010).
a. Which white collar crimes are more efficiently prosecuted at the local level and why?
4. The response to federal prosecutors of white collar crime seems to shift with the current eras administration. "In the shifting public attitudes promoted by the exposure of the Watergate affair in the early 1970s, ambitious federal prosecutors found it increasingly appealing to pursue white collar crime." (Friedrichs, 2009).However, in the 80s & 90s, both the Bush and Clinton administration, "showed little commitment to prosecuting white collar crime." In the early 2000s, the Enron scandal occurred and federal prosecutors successfully convicted hundreds. "By 2007, a shift to prosecuting individuals, not corporations, was noted." (Friedrichs,2009)
a. Identify some of the principal historical trends in the response of federal prosecutors to white collar crime, including reference to the major ideological and strategic factors influencing this response.
b. What are the principal arguments which have been advanced in favor of, and in opposition to, special prosecutors (or independent counsel)?
c. Similarly, what are some principal rationales for and against the use of grand juries in white collar crime cases?
5:
1. Identify three federal regulatory agencies with specific responsibilities relating to white collar crime; describe the jurisdictions of these agencies. Which agencies appear to be most effective, and which agencies appear to be least effective-or even counterproductive-and why? What factors specifically influence how agencies operate?
2. What should an employee consider when considering whether to give or receive a gift?
3. What is the most important contribution of a corporate code of conduct?