Chapter 11 Study Guide White Collar Crime, Chapter 12 Study Guide White Collar Crime
What characterizes a "reverse Nuremberg" defense?
Claiming that "I only give orders, I don't carry them out"
When a large group of victims of a corporation's harmful conduct join forces and initiate legal action against the corporation, it is known as what type of lawsuit?
Class action
Which of the following is not a factor that seems to attract attorneys to represent people accused of white collar crime?
Clients in most cases are likely to be innocent
White collar offenders are most often incarcerated in what type of prison?
Minimum security prisons
According to a survey reported in the text, the great majority of state attorney generals do not believe they have jurisdiction in white collar crime cases.
False
According to the text, given the nature of white collar crime cases, judges are somewhat less vulnerable to error than juries.
False
According to the text, judges are uniformly more lenient with convicted white collar crime defendants than with convicted conventional crime defendants.
False
Antitrust cases can only be initiated by the Federal Trade Commission.
False
At the sentencing stage, white collar crime defense lawyers typically play a smaller and more limited role than they do in conventional crime cases.
False
Conservative Republican administrations during the 1980s put special emphasis on major corporate crime in order to safeguard the decade's prosperity.
False
Corporate offenders and white collar criminals are generally less likely to obtain reversals of convictions on appeal than are conventional offenders.
False
Defendants in white collar crime cases who plead guilty typically do not become cooperating witnesses since there is often only one defendant.
False
During the Watergate Affair, President Nixon attempted but was ultimately unable to arrange for the firing of special prosecutor Archibald Cox.
False
It is usually difficult to obtain cooperation from accused parties in antitrust cases that are being aggressively pursued by federal prosecutors.
False
It is widely regarded as unethical for corporations to employ defense lawyers to represent accused corporate executives.
False
Ordinary jurors typically have no more difficulty in understanding the details of complex white collar crime cases once these are adequately explained to them.
False
Prison sentences in antitrust cases have been quite common.
False
The $100 million fine imposed on the Exxon corporation in connection with the Valdez oil spill, along with the over $1 billion civil settlement Exxon was also required to pay, had a ruinous impact on the corporation.
False
The Presidential administration of George W. Bush has been very aggressive in pursuing corporate crime cases.
False
The local prosecution of white collar crime cases is based on a number of factors, but not on the level of resources available to the prosecutor.
False
The organizations processed for criminal charges by the federal system are disproportionately large-scale, major corporations.
False
The special prosecutor in the Iran-Contra arms case issued a final report absolving high-level officials including President Reagan and Vice President Bush from responsibility in covering up the crime.
False
Traditionally, it has been federal government agencies that initiate court proceedings against corporate polluters.
False
Trial jurors find it overwhelmingly easy to discriminate between collective and individual accountability in white collar criminal cases.
False
Unlike conventional offenders, high-status white collar crime offenders tend to face juries that consist of people very much like themselves.
False
When corporations are fined, the fine is typically several times the cost of the economic harm caused.
False
White collar offenders who have victimized the government are least likely to be fined.
False
The primary responsibility for pursuing major white collar crime cases is assumed by which of the following?
Federal prosecutors
In the text, the SEC is likely to make referrals for criminal prosecution in cases involving all but which of the following?
Foreign investors
Which of the following is true with regard to fines imposed upon organizational offenders?
In many cases the fine is evaded, or has no substantial impact on the operation of the corporation
State attorney generals primarily prosecute white collar crime cases involving which of the following?
Individual defendants engaged in fraudulent transactions
The combination most likely to lead to criminal prosecution of white collar crime, according to a survey cited in the text, is which of the following?
Individual defendants, organizational victims, and multiple offenses or a large number of victims
With regard to the local prosecution of white collar crime, which of the following is true?
Most local prosecutors handle only a few white collar crime cases per year
Which of the following is true of legal fees in white collar crime cases?
They may in certain circumstances render the attorney vulnerable to criminal prosecution
Which of the following is true of sentencing guidelines with regards to white collar crime?
They seem to favor white collar crime defendants, relative to conventional crime defendants
A basic rationale for the special prosecutor position was to allow high-profile, politically sensitive cases to be pursued without fear of political interference from the Justice Department.
True
According to a major study of white collar crime defense work, compared with conventional crime defense, much earlier involvement in the case is the norm.
True
According to the text, some types of white collar offenders (such as solo practitioners engaged in professional misconduct) may be more vulnerable to prosecution during a period of economic distress.
True
Although community service sentences are not typical, they are more likely to be used in white collar crime cases than in conventional crime cases.
True
Deferred prosecution agreements allow corporations to accept certain conditions in return for the prosecutor not pursuing criminal indictments against them.
True
During the 1980s, the level of criminal investigative and prosecutorial resources directed at environmental crime expanded considerably.
True
Efforts in 1999 to introduce a reformed independent counsel law, imposing some limitations on jurisdiction, time frame, and budgets, were unsuccessful.
True
Federal prosecutors have assumed the primary responsibility for pursuing major white collar crime cases.
True
Federal prosecutors may opt for civil proceedings as opposed to criminal proceedings when pursuing white collar offenders.
True
Formal charging of a client is more likely to be regarded as a failure in white collar than in conventional crime cases.
True
Fraud is the most common form of white collar crime prosecution undertaken by local prosecutors.
True
In Morrison v. Olson (1988), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the special prosecutor office was not an unconstitutional violation of the separation of powers doctrine.
True
In many white collar crime cases, defense attorneys hire private investigators to gather information helpful to them.
True
In the 1970s, federal prosecutions of white collar crime cases increased dramatically.
True
Local prosecution of white collar crime cases is most likely in cases where physical harm to human beings or substantial economic harm has occurred.
True
Local prosecutors can be reluctant to antagonize local business interests.
True
Local prosecutors have traditionally directed much more attention to conventional street crime cases than to white collar crime cases.
True
Once a client is charged, according to the text, a strong incentive exists to plead guilty because of the low likelihood of winning cases for which arguments preventing a charge have failed.
True
Only a small percentage of white collar crimes are prosecuted and adjudicated by the criminal justice system.
True
Overall, evidence does not suggest that juries are either significantly more or significantly less likely than judges to acquit white collar crime defendants.
True
Some studies reported in the text found that higher status white collar crime offenders received more severe sentences than lower status white collar crime offenders.
True
The "Holder Memo" and the "Thompson Memo" have been viewed as factors in the increase of deferred prosecution agreements.
True
The broad subpoena powers of a grand jury are one advantage it has in pursuing white collar crime.
True
The complexity of many white collar crime cases often generates a wider range of options for appealing a conviction than is true for conventional crime cases.
True
The death penalty has never been imposed on a convicted white collar offender in the United States.
True
The formal secrecy of grand jury proceedings can help protect the reputation of businesses being investigated for alleged white collar crime offenses.
True
The grand jury is more likely to be involved in white collar crime cases than conventional crime cases.
True
The prosecution of antitrust cases has been highly selective.
True
There are some indications that prison sentences for white collar crime offenders became more common in the post-Watergate period.
True
There is evidence that in criminal cases, jurors are more likely to hold corporations more blameworthy than individual executives for wrongdoing.
True
When state prosecutors criminally pursue corporate crime cases, they often do so in cooperation with local and federal prosecutors.
True
White collar crime defendants are far more likely than conventional crime defendants to retain private counsel.
True
White collar defense lawyers tend to be divided between those who adopt a conciliatory, cooperative strategy with prosecutors and those who attempt to intimidate them by threatening all-out combat.
True
Which of the following scandals was a major inspiration for the formal creation of the special prosecutor's (independent counsel's) office?
Watergate
The Clinton presidential administration of the 1990s was somewhat more ideologically attuned to pursuing white collar crime cases, and a dramatic increase in the pursuit of ____ cases, in particular, occurred during the early years of this administration.
antitrust
With regards to prison sentences, white collar criminals:
are considerably less likely to go to prison than conventional offenders, and are likelier to receive shorter sentences
In the relatively few cases in which state prosecutors pursue corporations, they often do so in a cooperative venture with local and federal prosecutors in a process known as:
cross designation
Which of the following is true of plea bargaining in white collar crime cases?
It tends to be less cooperative negotiation and more adversarial confrontation in white collar crime cases as compared to conventional crime cases
Which of the following is true of white collar sentencing practices?
Judges have been especially tough on those who commit a violation of a public trust
The prosecution of corporate and business crime seems to occur most readily in:
economically strong communities
Studies of the relationship between class status and sentencing outcomes in white collar crime cases have shown that:
higher-status offenders appear to receive more severe sentences than lower-status offenders, but only according to some studies
The prosecution of environmental crime:
increased somewhat during the 1980s
The retention of private counsel:
is far more common for white collar defendants than for conventional crime defendants, although a significant percentage of those charged with white collar Crimes cannot afford such counsel
Which of the following is true of the grand jury in white collar crime cases?
it is more important than in conventional crime cases
Which of the following is true of judicial sentencing in white collar crime cases?
judges have traditionally been reluctant to impose tough prison sentences on convicted white collar defendants
The Republican presidential administrations of Ronald Reagan and George Bush, Sr., showed:
little commitment to prosecuting white collar crime.
The problem of jury competence appears to be:
more pronounced in white collar crime cases than in conventional crime cases
Corporate antitrust cases:
tend to be large and complicated
In the Ford Pinto case:
the Ford corporation was prosecuted unsuccessfully by a county prosecutor
According to the text, in some rare cases, judges may override a jury finding of guilty if they conclude that:
the jury has misunderstood the evidence
According to the text, which of the following does not contribute to the relatively low level of attention paid to white collar crime by local prosecutors?
A concern about antagonizing local consumers and workers
Which of the following is the most common penalty imposed upon organizational offenders?
A fine
Which of the following is true of product liability and medical malpractice cases?
A substantial majority of them are won by defendants
About half of the white collar crime defendants charged in federal cases go to trial.
False
The prosecution of white collar crime cases became a much greater priority for the U.S. Department of Justice beginning in the:
1970s
Which of the following is true of jurors in white collar crime cases?
Are likely to be most sympathetic to defendants most like themselves
White collar crime defendants are more likely to do which of the following than defendants in conventional crime cases?
Plead not guilty and go to trial
Which of the following is true of civil lawsuits against corporations?
They have increased measurably in more recent decades
What does the acronym SLAPP, in relation to civil suits, stand for?
Strategic lawsuits against public participation
According to Mann's study, in what way does white collar crime defense work differ from conventional crime defense work?
The control of information becomes a major objective
The conviction of the Enron accounting firm Arthur Anderson for obstruction of justice was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court for which of the following reasons?
The judge made a mistake when explaining important issues to the jury
According to Donald Scott's study of federal antitrust cases, which of the following would not be a factor in the decision to prosecute?
The public demand for prison sentences in antitrust cases
In the current era, the Justice Department has increasingly used deferred prosecution agreements with corporate offenders. Which of the following is not true about these agreements?
These agreements have not been employed in conventional crime cases
Which of the following statements about federal agencies is true?
They are sometimes reluctant to refer cases to the Justice Department because it suggests a failure on the agency's part, and may not lead to a successful resolution
The limited number of studies of imprisoned white collar crime offenders point to which of the following conclusions?
They do not necessarily suffer more, or adjust more poorly, than conventional offenders
