New @Public_Citizen report:

Prosecutions of corporate criminals PLUNGED to a 25-yr low in 2020

& deals to protect them from prosecution rose to the highest in Trump's 4 yrs

Biden’s DOJ must ramp up enforcement to show corporations are not above the law
https://www.citizen.org/article/corporate-criminals-above-the-law-prosecutions-plunged/

The trend lines here are alarming.

Corporate prosecutions peaked with 296 in 2000.

They have fallen 2/3 from that.

And leniency agreements that help corps avoid prosecution were how 1/3 of criminal cases vs corps were resolved in 2020.

Used to be ~1% of the time.

These agreements (deferred prosecution agreements & nonprosecution agreements) originated as an alternative to prosecution for young people accused of low-level offenses.

That's a good thing.

But now federal prosecutors primarily use these agreements to help corporations.

Corporations are all about maximizing profits and calculating risks.

They know DOJ bends over backwards to avoid prosecuting them.

The result is that corporate criminal enforcement fails to deter repeat offenders. https://www.citizen.org/article/soft-on-corporate-crime-deferred-and-non-prosecution-repeat-offender-report/

in 2020:

JPMorgan Chase got its 2nd DPA (and 4th leniency agreement) from DOJ in under 10 years

big bank HSBC received its 3rd DPA since 2012

subsidiaries of Novartis, a pharma corporation, received two DPAs

Some people think corporate crime is victimless.

Tell that to the 1,000+ people sickened by Chipotle's food safety violations

Or the millions ripped off by Wells Fargo's cross-selling fraud

Or workers exposed to banned chemicals Monsanto illegally stored

All got DPAs in 2020

So what can we do to make sure corporations are held accountable?

First, Biden's DOJ should rescind Trump's corporate leniency policies.

The good news is, they are already doing that!

See, for example https://www.citizen.org/article/biden-doj-ditches-trump-coup-accomplices-polluter-protections/

Among the reforms DOJ should adopt:
-Stop entering leniency agreements with corporations
-Prioritize holding individual execs accountable
-Automatically debar convicted corporations from govt contracts
-If a corporation is deemed "too big" to prosecute, break it up

If we're to move forward from rampant impunity among the most powerful and well-connected, a strong, no-nonsense approach to corporate accountability is essential.

For more, check out the full report: https://www.citizen.org/article/corporate-criminals-above-the-law-prosecutions-plunged/