http://www.indianalawjournal.org en-us N/A admin@indianalawjournal.org Tue, 06 Jan 2009 04:56:51 EST 20 http://www.indianalawjournal.org/articles/16/1/Rethinking-Criminal-Corporate-Liability/Page1.html Under current federal law a corporation, no matter how large or small, is criminally liable if a member of the organization commits a crime at least in part with the motive to benefit the company.This Article challenges that doctrine and contends that where it seeks to charge a corporation as a defendant, the government should bear the burden of establishing as an additional element that the corporation failed to have reasonably effective policies and procedures to prevent the conduct.This Article demonstrates, though an examination of post-Enron deferred prosecution agreements, that the government has consistently sought corporate reforms regarding internal compliance measures that can best prevent and detect the crimes engaged in by company employees.Those agreements provide the measure of what the government views as appropriate corporate behavior and provide a template for corporations seeking to implement internal mechanisms that will satisfy law enforcement.Far from giving corporations a shield to commit fraud, a system that ties criminal liability to the lack of an effective compliance program will do what the practical limitations on a prosecutor's time and resources could never permit – incentivize boardrooms around the country to devise, implement, and monitor compliance measures.

]]> no@spam.com (Andrew Weissman with David Newman) Wed, 03 Oct 2007 22:01:29 EDT http://www.indianalawjournal.org/articles/16/1/Rethinking-Criminal-Corporate-Liability/Page1.html