Enron crimes get scant punishment: justice still has yet to be served in ongoing Enron investigation, raising troubling questions about how the U.S. legal system punishes white-collar crime

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Jan 7, 2003 | by Kelly Patricia O'Meara

But what about the wrongdoers themselves? What is to keep them from becoming serial offenders? "We aren't especially creative when it comes to the corporate side of punishment," Leighton responds. "We have all sorts of notification systems in place for criminal acts, sex offenders and such, so maybe there's a way of tagging some of these people with a designation so that if they're hired by a publically traded company that company would have to say something in its annual report. There should be something that carries through with these corporate offenders who don't fall under criminal statutes."

The indignation rises in the criminologist's voice. "In this country," he says, "if you commit a murder and you're a juvenile, you're probably going to be executed because we hold that you're responsible for your actions. We have `three strikes you're out,' based on the premise that if you do something wrong again and again and again you may deserve to live your life in prison. Nothing close to this went into legislation after Enron, even though thousands of people lost their life savings, were pauperized for their retirements and a great deal more. I think it's pretty amazing that in this country prosecutors are willing to execute retarded people and juveniles in the name of justice but a Ken Lay isn't held responsible for his actions at Enron."

KELLY PATRICIA O'MEARA IS AN INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER FOR Insight MAGAZINE.