John Hasnas presents:

John Hasnas presents "Is there a theoretical justification for the assignment of criminal responsibility to corporate entities?"
November 18, 2009 - In 1909, the Supreme Court decided New York Central & Hudson River R.R. Co. v. United States, which held that corporations are subject to criminal punishment for offenses committed by their employees. A century later, the application of the criminal sanction to business organizations is taken for granted. It should not be. Not only is there no theoretical justification for corporate criminal liability, the assignment of criminal responsibility to corporate entities is a direct violation of the theoretical structure of Anglo-American criminal law that has had extraordinarily pernicious effects in practice. Hasnas will argue that New York Central was a mistake when it was decided, remains a mistake today, and should be explicitly overruled.

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