[nero]

One of my pet peeves is how corporations can get away with crime without effective punishment because it is just physically impossible to put them in jail.

But why can't we put them on probation? If you are found not to be a responsible driver the judge can take away your licence to drive, if you are found to have commited a sex crime the judge can limit your access to children, why can't they similarly limit the activities of corporations?

For example if a corporation like BP is found to have been negligent in operating a refinery, the judge should sentence them to a probation where they may only operate a refinery under close supervision.

For really nasty crimes perhaps we can limit their corporate activities to stamping out licence plates and give the corporation one (monitored) phone call per week.

[WisJim]

I always thought that the board of directors should be responsible, that they should be jailed if appropriate, since the corporation can't be jailed. I remember my freshman college political science professor getting really excited about the concept--if a person commits a felony, the penalty can be prison, why not for a corporation? Of course, part of the reason things are such a mess was the decision that corporations are "people", when ever that was decided by the courts.

[mmasters]

Well the problem is greed and the private monopoly on the money system that encourages it. The rich have control of the corporations. Corporations and the rich partner with government to expand their control. Over time government becomes corrupt.

Corporations are a dominant player in the system by design.

[seahorse2]

Corporate board members can be put in jail, haven't you watched the news? Enron?

US Gov't corporate fraud task force

CNN Enron watch

IRS corporate fraud section

FBI corporate fraud

[WisJim]

[quote="seahorse2"]Corporate board members can be put in jail, haven't you watched the news? Enron? [quote]

Yes, but they should have been doing this for decades. And the jailed people were jailed more for personal wrongs than for what the company policies were.

[seahorse2]

A corporation is a legal fiction, it exist only on paper. A corporation is not better or worse than its members. So, the members can be tried. Putting members in jail changes policies or puts the business out of business. That's the best you can do. No different than a democracy, only as good as its members.