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Prosecuting Corporate Polluters: The Sparing Use of Criminal Sanctions

NCJ Number
117591
Journal
University of Detroit Law Review Volume: 62 Issue: 4 Dated: (Summer 1985) Pages: 659-676
Author(s)
B H Doerr
Date Published
1985
Length
18 pages
Annotation
Prosecutors should be required to use the criminal sanctions that Congress has created for dealing with corporations that violate environmental laws.
Abstract
Traditionally, criminal penalties have not been imposed on polluters, because the regulation of pollution was long regarded as an issue to be settled in negotiations and conferences among experts. The level of pollution throughout the United States thus continued to rise until environmental groups began pressuring the government for a more effective response to the environmental problem. Therefore, Congress enacted strict criminal penalties including fines as high as $1 million for the illegal disposal of hazardous wastes. The imposition of criminal sanctions is relatively rare, however, particularly when compared with the government's enforcement actions against ordinary crime. However, criminal sanctions can be an effective method of deterring illegal conduct and promoting voluntary compliance with the environmental regulatory scheme. Thus, prosecutors should be required to report to the legislature and the public the efforts that are being made to preserve health and safety through the use of criminal sanctions. Footnotes.

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