Word: zampano
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Dates: during 1978-1978
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When Federal Judge Robert Zampano pondered what to do about the Olin Corp., charged with illegally selling arms to the Republic of South Africa, his solution was what he called a "creative" punishment. Instead of imposing the maximum $510,000 fine on Olin, which pleaded nolo contendere to the charge, he instructed the corporation to donate that amount to charities in New Haven, Conn., where Olin's Winchester Group is situated. "Reparations to the people of the community," he called it, stating, "The court believes that additional steps must be applied on the local level for re-establishing...
...Zampano's solution is not without parallel. In 1976 Allied Chemical was fined $13.2 million for polluting the James River; after the sum was reduced to $5 million by the federal judge who assessed the fine, the company contributed $8 million to set up the Virginia Environmental Endowment. But the Olin case raises some questions about the proper exercise of judicial discretion. Had the judge merely fined Olin for violating the anti-apartheid arms ban, the $510,000 would have wound up in the federal treasury. Do the people of New Haven have any more right to the money...
...where the victims arguably range from those workers at the Winchester plant who are concerned about apartheid, to all U.S. citizens embarrassed by Olin's arms sale, to South African blacks themselves, deciding who deserves restitution is difficult. As far as Columbia Law Professor Walter Werner is concerned, Zampano's decision was as good a solution as any. "It dramatizes the antisocial nature of the corporation's activity," said Werner. "It is doing justice in the broadest sense...