BS: Corporate Death Penalty

Subject: BS: Corporate Death Penalty
From: EBarnacle
Date: 27 May 11 - 10:19 AM

Many of have wondered "How do we get to a corporate bad guy in a way that gets them to either change their ways or go out of business?" Arizona, of all states, has been upheld in the Supreme Court for its Corporate Death Penalty law.

This law has a "three strikes and you're out" feature and, in this case, has been applied to a relatively small company. Imagine if it would happen to a major bank...or another "too big to fail" institution. Pandora's Box may have been opened.

Where do we go from here?

This looks like a real attack on corporate "personhood." It may even lead to a rethink of the Citizens United decision.

Subject: RE: BS: Corporate Death Penalty
From: Willie-O
Date: 27 May 11 - 11:08 AM

That is relating to their questionable statute regarding hiring "illegal" immigrant labour, right?

Hardly surprising that it would be a small company that would go down. Large and multi-national businesses are the multi-headed hydras that would simply disappear (administratively) from Arizona and pop up elsewhere, or more likely, headquartered elsewhere...

I don't know how you connect this to the eventual backtracking on "Citizens United", it's the same bunch enacting both decisions.

W-O

Subject: RE: BS: Corporate Death Penalty
From: Bobert
Date: 27 May 11 - 11:20 AM

The Ryan/Republican Medicare Plan is also pushing for corporate "death panels" by letting insurance companies decide on what treatments they want to pay for for our elderly...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Corporate Death Penalty
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 27 May 11 - 02:00 PM

Corporate Death Penalty sounds like a good idea, with a few adjustments.

The idea appears to be that the business is wound up with all its assets being sold and paid to the victims or returned to the shareholders. But the shareholders are responsible if they fail to keep their company on the straight and narrow, so they should have to carry some of that penalty.

But I can't see it being applied in the UK - shame, it's the only version of the death penalty I'd favour5.

Subject: RE: BS: Corporate Death Penalty
From: GUEST,999 NOTE THE DATE of the article
Date: 27 May 11 - 02:00 PM

From

http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=1810

The Death Penalty for Corporations Comes of Age

by Russell Mokhiber, Business Ethics
November 1st, 1998


In two surprising recent cases, a law school professor and a circuit court judge seek to revoke the charters of corporate lawbreakers.

We know what the death penalty for individuals means: Commit an egregious crime, die at the hands of the state. What does it mean to talk about the ''death penalty'' for corporations? Simply this: Commit an egregious wrong, and have your charter revoked. In other words, lose the state's permission to exist. It's an intriguing concept, because most of us never think about corporations needing anyone's permission to exist. But they do.

Throughout the nation's history, the states have had -- and still have -- the authority to give birth to a corporation, by granting a corporate charter, and to impose the death penalty on a corporate wrongdoer by revoking its charter. Activist-author Richard Grossman points out that in 1890, for example, New York's highest court revoked the charter of the North River Sugar Refining Corporation -- referring to the judgment explicitly as one of ''corporate death.'' It was once widely understood that the states had this power. ''New York, Ohio, Michigan and Nebraska revoked the charters of oil, match, sugar and whiskey trusts'' in the 1800s, Grossman wrote in the pamphlet, ''Taking Care of Business: Citizenship and the Charter of Incorporation,'' co-authored with Frank Adams.

For many decades now, this vital power has lain dormant in the public mind. But a small group of activists led by Grossman is hoping to resurrect it. They believe that to stem the tide of growing and unaccountable corporate power, it's not enough to rely on regulation, litigation, legislation, and law enforcement. Grossman and his Cambridge-based Project on Corporations, Law and Democracy want citizens to reclaim the power to put corporations to death.

Subject: RE: BS: Corporate Death Penalty
From: EBarnacle
Date: 27 May 11 - 02:09 PM

The news story I heard suggested that this would also be a reasonable expansion/interpretation of RICO.

Subject: RE: BS: Corporate Death Penalty
From: DMcG
Date: 28 May 11 - 04:24 AM

I thought about this with the recent RyanAir/Volcano argument. Broadly, their CEO was arguing that they were being prevented by the Civil Aviation Authority when it was perfectly safe. It seemed to me one way out of the dilemma could be that in that situation they might be allowed to fly providing the board members sign a letter for every such flight accepting that they are flying against the advice of the regulator and they accept that they personally will be guilty of manslaughter if the plane crashes. This letter must be handed in to the air traffic services before the flight will be authorised.

It might make them pause for thought a little!