Word: crime
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Thayer case was fairly unusual in the annals of corporate crime because it resulted in a stiff penalty. Of the 9,900 white-collar offenders sentenced last year, 60% received no prison term. Those sent to jail typically serve one year or less. In contrast, an estimated 70% of defendants convicted of all kinds of felonies go to prison or jail. Prosecutors and critics of the courts maintain that business crime is on the rise because corporate crooks have received such lenient treatment...
...moment the only solution seems to be stricter enforcement. That has become a primary goal of the Reagan Administration, despite its repu- tation of being cozy with Big Business. In 1983 the Justice Department set up the Economic Crime Council, made up of top law-enforcement officials, to "target, identify, prosecute and convict" people who commit financial crimes. The result has been a shift in priorities for Government crime busters. In 1970 only 8% of the criminal cases pursued by federal authorities involved white- collar offenses, but that figure rose to 24% in 1984. The Justice Department brought 20 cases...
Harsh penalties may be the most effective deterrent to executive-suite misdeeds. Says U.S. Attorney Giuliani: "Corporate crime is a crime of greed and fear. The best way to combat it is to raise the fear." Experts hope that the sentence given Thayer and the long prison term that Butcher is expected to receive will send a message to would-be business criminals about the consequences of getting caught...
...exposes the hypocrisies of opponents so tellingly that he becomes persuasive anew. When outraged employees confront him, his retort is blunt and seemingly unanswerable: If an unfettered press is crucial to a free society, then why have Fleet Street journalists squandered their energies on look-alike rags compounded of crime, cleavage, gossip about royalty and page upon page of sports...
...finally, this wickedly complex movie is not to be taken literally. It is not an inside look at organized crime any more than it is a study of the joys and dangers of sexual obsession. It is a parable of generational conflict in Director Huston's most sardonic (or Asphalt Jungle) vein. Its basic irony derives from the fact that the Prizzi hoods, colorfully impersonated by such welcome old pros as William Hickey, Robert Loggia and Lee Richardson, represent, despite their line of work, traditional values. They take the long, institutional view of their enterprise, understanding that its greatest asset...