Why Not Jail? Industrial Catastrophes, Corporate Malfeasance, and Government Inaction

Title

Why Not Jail? Industrial Catastrophes, Corporate Malfeasance, and Government Inaction

Description

The U.S. Department of Justice is under fire for failing to prosecute banks that caused the 2008 economic meltdown because they are too big to jail. Prosecutors have long neglected to hold corporate executives accountable for chronic mistakes that kill and injure workers and customers. This book, the first of its kind, analyzes five industrial catastrophes that have killed or sickened consumers and workers or caused irrevocable harm to the environment. From the Texas City refinery explosion to the Upper Big Branch mine collapse to the destruction of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and extending to incidents of food and drug contamination that have killed or injured hundreds, the root causes of these preventable disasters include crimes of commission and omission. Although federal prosecutors have made a start on holding low-level managers liable, far more aggressive prosecution is appropriate as a matter of law, policy, and justice. Written in accessible and jargon-free language, this book recommends innovative interpretations of existing laws to elevate the prosecution of white-collar crime at the federal and state levels.

TMLL catalog entry

call number: KF9350 .S74 2014

ISBN

9781107633940

Publication Date

11-2014

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

City

New York

Keywords

regulatory failure, environmental catastrophe, workplace accidents, institutional failure, deepwater, macondo, peanut corporation, big branch

Disciplines

Administrative Law | Environmental Law | Labor and Employment Law

Why Not Jail? Industrial Catastrophes, Corporate Malfeasance, and Government Inaction

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