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The Road Not Taken: The Elusive Path to Criminal Prosecution for White-Collar Offenders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2024

Susan P. Shapiro
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Abstract

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In the control of stock fraud, criminal prosecution is the road not taken: only six of every hundred parties investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission ultimately stand in judgment before a criminal court. This paper examines the role of criminal prosecution in controlling securities violations. It traces the SEC enforcement process in which most stock swindlers are diverted from criminal prosecution and treated civilly or administratively or spared legal action entirely. It finds that the criminal process attracts the most significant offenses, but also those about which little else can be done. In this light, the paper reconsiders the controversial finding that upper status white-collar offenders fare no better and often worse than their lower status counterparts at criminal sentencing. It finds a double standard, but one with some surprising implications.

Type
Research Article
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 19 , Issue 2 , 1985 , pp. 179 - 217
Copyright
Copyright © 1985 by The Law and Society Association

Footnotes

*

An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 1984 annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology. I am grateful to Katherine Hughes and especially Richard Lempert for their comments and suggestions and to the Russell Sage Foundation for its support. This research was funded in part by Grant 78NI-AX-0017 from the National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice. The research was undertaken with the permission of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC, as a matter of policy, disclaims responsibility for private publications. The views and conclusions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Commission, its staff, or the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.

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