Re-Evaluating Corporate Criminal Liability: The DOJ’s Internal Moral Culpability Standard for Corporate Criminal Liability

14 Pages Posted: 9 Mar 2011 Last revised: 19 Jan 2012

See all articles by Lucian E. Dervan

Lucian E. Dervan

Belmont University - College of Law

Date Written: March 8, 2011

Abstract

This article examines the common law respondeat superior test for corporate criminal liability and proposes that it be expanded beyond the current two prong test to encompass a third prong regarding moral culpability. Further, this article supports this proposal by noting that the Department of Justice has already incorporated a moral culpability element into its analysis of corporate criminal liability through application of the Department’s Principles of Federal Prosecution of Business Organizations. While some might argue that one should be satisfied that the Department of Justice has seen fit to implement a new corporate criminal liability standard on its own volition, there are two fundamental flaws with allowing the status quo to suffice. First, while the government’s consideration of the Principles of Prosecution may be “mandatory,” these guidelines create no legal rights for corporate defendants. Second, the Principles of Prosecution contain elements for consideration that are outside the applicable scope of inquiry because they examine actions by the corporation that occur after the criminal conduct under scrutiny. As such, this article proposes a revised common law respondeat superior test that focuses the analysis of whether the corporation is morally culpable on a refined and appropriately limited group of pre-offense and offense specific factors.

Keywords: Corporate Criminal Liability, Respondeat Superior, Principles of Federal Prosecution, Corporate Crime, Moral Culpability

JEL Classification: K10, K14, K20, K22, K40, K41, K42

Suggested Citation

Dervan, Lucian E., Re-Evaluating Corporate Criminal Liability: The DOJ’s Internal Moral Culpability Standard for Corporate Criminal Liability (March 8, 2011). Stetson Law Review, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1781291

Lucian E. Dervan (Contact Author)

Belmont University - College of Law ( email )

1900 Belmont Boulevard
Nashville, TN 37212
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.belmont.edu/law/

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