The single greatest travesty to afflict American society in the 21st century has been the abandonment of the rule of law and accountability. It’s worse than the attacks of 9/11 and the subsequent loss of privacy and civil liberties. It’s even worse than the economic devastation unleashed by the financial crisis.
The reason it’s worse is because dynamic, complex and diverse cultures such as these United States will always be flawed and some of its leaders, both corporate and political, will always fall to the temptation of corruption and criminality. The key to preventing such bad behavior from multiplying and ultimately destroying the entire civilization, is the rule of law.
Edward Snowden leaked the information he did in order to inform the American public of what its government was doing in cahoots with large tech companies. He saw Constitutional violations and he held up his oath to protect the founding document from “enemies foreign and domestic.” Nevertheless, no one in a position of power has been held accountable.
Similarly, the financial crisis came and went (for now), and what’s the biggest lesson learned? Crime pays. Tremendously. We learned that rich and powerful members of society are suddenly somehow above the law. That their corporations merely have to pay a slap on the wrist fine and the perpetrators get to keep their ill gotten gains. That oligarchs are untouchable, and a group of people Larry Summers called “insiders,” never go to jail.
Restoring the rule of law and accountability for the wealthiest and most powerful amongst us is of the upmost importance. It is far more important to hold the powerful accountable than the weak. The weak commit small scale crimes, while big players have the capacity to destroy entire nations with their unethical behavior. And they are well on their way to achieving that here in the U.S., earning billions along the way.
In case you remain unconvinced, see last year’s post: New Report – The United States’ Sharp Drop in Economic Freedom Since 2000 Driven by “Decline in Rule of Law”.
Everyone knows about “too big to jail” by now. How U.S attorney general Eric Holder used deferred prosecution agreements to shield the big banks who he can now once again represent at law firm Covington and Burling. The key question now is whether any change is on the horizon. Perhaps.
From the New York Times:
WASHINGTON — Stung by years of criticism that it has coddled Wall Street criminals, the Justice Department issued new policies on Wednesday that prioritize the prosecution of individual employees — not just their companies — and put pressure on corporations to turn over evidence against their executives.
The new rules, issued in a memo to federal prosecutors nationwide, are the first major policy announcement by Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch since she took office in April. The memo is a tacit acknowledgment of criticism that despite securing record fines from major corporations, the Justice Department under President Obama has punished few executives involved in the housing crisis, the financial meltdown and corporate scandals.
“Corporations can only commit crimes through flesh-and-blood people,” Sally Q. Yates, the deputy attorney general and the author of the memo, said in an interview on Wednesday. “It’s only fair that the people who are responsible for committing those crimes be held accountable. The public needs to have confidence that there is one system of justice and it applies equally regardless of whether that crime occurs on a street corner or in a boardroom.”
Sounds good, but is it just PR?
But in many ways, the new rules are an exercise in public messaging, substantive in some respects but symbolic in others. Because the memo lays out guidelines, not laws, its effect will be determined largely by how Justice Department officials interpret it. And several of the points in the memo merely codify policy that is already in place.
Under Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., the Justice Department faced repeated criticism from Congress and consumer advocates that it treated corporate executives leniently. After the 2008 financial crisis, no top Wall Street executives went to prison, highlighting a disparity in how prosecutors treat corporate leaders and typical criminals. Although prosecutors did collect billions of dollars in fines from big banks like JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup, critics dismissed those cases as hollow victories.
A criminal case last year against BNP Paribas, France’s biggest bank, demonstrated the gap between charging a bank and its employees. Even as officials extracted a record $8.9 billion penalty and made the company one of the first giant banks to plead guilty to a crime, no BNP employees faced charges. The Justice Department said the bank insulated its employees by withholding records until after a deadline had passed to file individual charges.
And the DOJ was just helpless to do anything about this?
Still, even if the Justice Department’s effort succeeds, it will not automatically put more executives behind bars. Mr. Garrett, the University of Virginia law professor, analyzed the cases in which corporate employees had been charged.
More than half, he said, were spared jail time.
Meanwhile, the guy selling a dime bag on the street corner gets locked up. Tell me, who represents a greater threat to society?
It’s shocking and shameful that such a memo is necessary in the first place. Such is life in the imperial Banana Republic.
For related articles, see:
Bilderberg 2015 – Where Criminals Mingle with Politicians
Baltimore as a Microcosm of America
The U.S. Department of Justice Handles Banker Criminals Like Juvenile Offenders…Literally
In Liberty,
Michael Krieger
Donate bitcoins: 35DBUbbAQHTqbDaAc5mAaN6BqwA2AxuE7G
Follow me on Twitter.
The timing of this is cynical. Even if the Department of Justice For Sale decides to file any charges, they will be prosecuted, or not, and sentenced, or not, by the next administration, not Obama’s.
I think most of us, who have eyes in our heads and brains too, understand exactly and perfectly who Larry “Summers” means when he refers to “insiders.”
The real problem is that we are ruled by law. Law is nothing but one group of people with the “authority” to rule the lives of everyone else. Expecting the law to hold those who make, interpret, and enforce those laws is entirely futile. The answer is to abandon law (and government) and move to a society organized around property rights. Law is authoritarian and authority will always be abused.