Capital Offenses: Business Crime and Punishment in America’s Corporate Age

Why isn’t half of Wall Street in jail? Or at least in court? Several years after the Great Recession, that is a question Main Street America would still like answered. Buell, a law professor at Duke University and former Enron prosecutor, has an answer, but probably not the one people want. In short: it’s complicated. In this comprehensive examination of white-collar criminal law, Buell cogently explains the difficulties inherent in corporate criminal prosecutions. First, corporations aren’t people, so they can’t be incarcerated. (Generally, they can only be embarrassed and fined.) Second, the misdoings of corporations, even when deadly—as with General Motors’s faulty ignition switch or the explosion at BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig—are seldom attributable to one person. Instead, they generally arise from systemic flaws in corporate culture or procedure. Aside from these difficulties, the laws governing corporate malfeasance are deliberately vague and often require that prosecutors prove malicious intent, making convictions difficult. Buell also explains why corporations, as engines of commerce and promoters of economic welfare, are given leniency and latitude that would never be offered to human beings. Without ever coming across as specious or barristerial, he has crafted a thoughtful and thought-provoking examination of crime on Wall Street vs. crime on Main Street. (Aug.)