Federal Court Processing of Corporate, White Collar, and Common Crime Economic Offenders Over the Past Three Decades

Abstract

The history of white-collar and corporate crime in our nation has been one of toleration. Throughout much of this century, the victims, the government, and the criminal justice system have been largely inactive in attempting to control this form of law-violating behavior. Asa result, occupational and organizational crime offenders have been treated preferentially in our courts when compared to traditional or common crime offenders. Beginning in the 1970s, however, public attitudes began to changeand the government and criminal justice system were given a mandate to pursue these offenders. This paper utilizes aggregate data on the U.S. District Courts for the fiscal years ending June 30, 1964, 1974, and 1984, and is designed to investigate whethera shift in criminal justice policy (arising from public concerns over corporate and white-collar crime) has been put into effect. That is, have equitableoperational policies for the adjudicationand sentencing of corporate, white-collar, and common crime offenders evolved over the past three decades? The conclusions drawn from the data suggest that while corporate and white-collar criminals are more frequently being brought to the attention of the courts, and have beenreceiving more and moreserious sanctions, they are still receiving more lenient penalties for their actions than are common property crime offenders.