The Criminal Class Action

71 Pages Posted: 29 Apr 2011 Last revised: 5 Apr 2014

See all articles by Adam S. Zimmerman

Adam S. Zimmerman

USC Gould School of Law

David Michael Jaros

University of Baltimore - School of Law

Date Written: April 27, 2011

Abstract

Over the past ten years, in a variety of high-profile corporate scandals, prosecutors have sought billions of dollars in restitution for crimes ranging from environmental dumping and consumer scams to financial fraud. In what we call “criminal class action” settlements, prosecutors distribute that money to groups of victims as in a civil class action while continuing to pursue the traditional criminal justice goals of retribution and deterrence.

Unlike civil class actions, however, the emerging criminal class action lacks critical safeguards for victims entitled to compensation. While prosecutors are encouraged, and even required by statute, to seek victim restitution, they lack adequate rules requiring them to (1) coordinate with other civil lawsuits that seek the same relief for victims, (2) hear victims’ claims, (3) identify conflicts between different parties, and (4) divide the award among victims.

We argue that prosecutors may continue to play a limited role in compensating victims for widespread harm. However, when prosecutors compensate multiple victims in a criminal class action, prosecutors should adopt rules similar to those that exist in private litigation to ensure that the victims receive fair and efficient compensation. We propose four solutions to give victims more voice in their own redress while preserving prosecutorial discretion: (1) that prosecutors and courts coordinate overlapping settlements before a single federal judge, (2) that prosecutors involve representative stakeholders in settlement discussions through a mediation-like process, (3) that courts subject prosecutors’ distribution plans to independent review to police potential conflicts of interest, and (4) that prosecutors adopt the distribution guidelines the American Law Institute developed for large-scale civil litigation to balance victims’ competing interests.

Suggested Citation

Zimmerman, Adam S. and Jaros, David Michael, The Criminal Class Action (April 27, 2011). University of Pennsylvania Law Review, Vol. 159, p. 1385, 2011, University of Baltimore School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper, Loyola-LA Legal Studies Paper No. 2014-18, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1824408 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1824408

Adam S. Zimmerman

USC Gould School of Law ( email )

699 Exposition Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90089
United States

HOME PAGE: http://https://gould.usc.edu/faculty/?id=79504

David Michael Jaros (Contact Author)

University of Baltimore - School of Law ( email )

1420 N. Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21218
United States

HOME PAGE: http://law.ubalt.edu/

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