Once Again, Corporate Crimes Result in No Jail

By Robert Reich, Robert Reich's Facebook Page

19 September 15

don’t understand how corporations can be held criminally liable yet no single person be held responsible. Federal prosecutors just struck a deal with GM for $900 million in “criminal penalties” for GM's failure to disclose faulty ignition systems that may have contributed to the deaths of more than 100 people (a sum less than the $1.2 billion Toyota paid last year to settle similar claims over its reporting of unintended acceleration). Despite widespread reports of failures beginning in 2004, GM didn’t notify the government until February 2014.

So if this was a “criminal” act, as prosecutors say it was, why isn’t any GM executive going to jail? It’s a replay of the prosecutions of big Wall Street banks that resulted in no one jailed. The deal even violates new guidelines the Justice Department announced last week directing prosecutors to indict real humans when they pursue criminal charges against corporations.

The Supreme Court (in its shameful 2010 “Citizens United” case) considers corporations people under the First Amendment. But corporations aren’t people. People are people. And there’s no incentive for executive people to obey the law when the costs of their malfeasance is borne by future shareholders who won’t even know how their stock price is affected by such “criminal” penalties.

What do you think?