Chapter 9 Study Guide White Collar Crime

Which of the following is a product of appellate court opinions?

Case law

The Commerce Clause, which authorized Congress to make laws regulating commerce between the states, is an example of which of the following types of law?

Constitutional law

The adoption of the Occupational Safety and Health Act can be attributed to all but which of the following factors?

Corporate management's perception that it could profit from such an act

According to John Coffee, criminal law differs from civil law in which of the following ways?

Criminal laws are legislative acts, but the civil law is largely judge-made

According to the text, which of the following is true?

Many of the worst white collar crimes were committed by the powerful who did not have incentives to impose formal controls on their own predatory practices

Full implementation of environmental protection laws has been constrained by all but which of the following?

Declining public concern about environmental harm.

Which of the following is not a way in which the executive branch contributes to the "making" of white collar crime law?

Determining the specific language of the law.

The laws adopted in the early 20ᵗʰ century which regulated the meat industry but were also supported by the large meatpackers are especially well-explained by which of the following perspectives on lawmaking?

Dialectical

Adam Smith's original vision of a capitalist society called for the development of large, powerful trusts.

False

Adam Smith, the premier philosopher of capitalism, argued that the legal system, not the free market, is the best means for minimizing harmful conduct by businesses.

False

Administrative agencies have typically had their rule-making closely overseen by Congress and the courts.

False

Antitrust law, directed against monopolistic practices, is at odds with Adam Smith's views of capitalism.

False

Concern with commercial misconduct began only in the 19ᵗʰ century, with the advent of industrialization and capitalism.

False

Efforts to prohibit monopolistic practices were not made before the 19ᵗʰ century.

False

Environmental protection laws are limited to civil, as opposed to criminal, procedures and penalties.

False

From the latter half of the 19ᵗʰ century on, the U.S. Supreme Court consistently favored the rights of consumers and employees over the rights of corporations.

False

Government agencies and entities generally oppose white collar crime laws.

False

Historically, business has had relatively little influence over the law-making process.

False

Historically, the notion of criminal liability has been principally associated with judicial persons.

False

In recent years in the U.S., public interest groups have clearly been far more successful in the legislative arena than in the courts in their efforts to press for more effective white collar crime laws.

False

Industries affected by the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 strongly supported it as consistent with their long-term interests.

False

It has been generally agreed that the term white collar crime should be restricted to violations of the criminal law, rather than being more broadly defined.

False

Social theorists are in broad agreement that social control is based upon consensus.

False

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act was adopted in 1977 has been criticized for giving American businesses an unfair advantage in foreign business transactions.

False

The RICO law is uniformly regarded as successful and necessary by judges and businesses.

False

The burden of proof in administrative courts is more stringent than in traditional courts.

False

The concept of social control was first introduced by Edwin Sutherland.

False

The imputation theory of corporate criminal liability holds that liability is direct, insofar as corporate actors are acting on behalf of the corporation.

False

The instrumentalist perspective on lawmaking is especially effective in explaining laws which work against the immediate interests of major capitalist corporations.

False

The laws developed in England in the 18ᵗʰ century were structured to respond effectively to the exploitative and harmful practices of businesses as corporate entities.

False

The political influence of business on lawmaking has remained relatively stable over the course of modern American history.

False

The term law has had a single, settled meaning in the course of Western history.

False

The vulnerability of businesses to government regulation seems to be largely independent of the state of the economy.

False

Those who view the matter of white collar crime primarily in moralistic terms are likely to favor a civil law approach to it.

False

The Administrative Procedure Act, enacted in 1946, was intended to do which of the following?

Impose some constraints on administrative agency powers, and provide guidelines for its procedures

Traditionally, the mechanisms of social control have focused on which of the following?

Individuals

The view that law in a capitalist society reflects the direct control of the elite class over the state is most consistent with which of the following perspectives?

Instrumentalist

Stuart Green has demonstrated how which of the following inform different types of white collar crime law?

Moral concepts

According to the text, which of the following is the primary reason businesses support regulatory law?

They realize that they can benefit from an increase in public trust or a more stable and predictable business environment

The imputation theory, which holds that the corporation is liable for the intent and acts of its employees on any level in the corporate hierarchy, was originally developed via which form of law?

Tort

According to the text, white collar crime can be seen as a product of failed social control and as a product of highly successful social control.

True

Administrative agencies may be created by the legislative branch, operate as part of the executive branch, and function, at times, like the judicial branch.

True

Administrative courts have become an attractive alternative to traditional courts for prosecution of some forms of white collar crime.

True

An ancient common law doctrine holding masters legally responsible for the wrongful acts of their servants has been provided a major basis for corporate civil and criminal liability.

True

As a society becomes larger, more complex and more heterogeneous, the historical tendency is to rely increasingly upon formal laws in response to white collar crime.

True

Attention to white collar crime law has not traditionally been a specific focus of the law school curriculum and attendant casebooks.

True

Civil law has played a much larger role in responding to white collar crime than to conventional crime.

True

Environmental protection laws have been adopted principally since the late 1960s.

True

Even when laws attempting to control certain forms of corporate activities are adopted, elite interests often have the power to influence the meaning of the laws.

True

Following the "Black Death" in the 14ᵗʰ century, laws were enacted in England to regulate wages as well as punish those who refused to work.

True

For much of the 20ᵗʰ century, corporate management was able to deflect occupational safety and health laws in the U.S.

True

Historically, the range of activities defined as white collar crimes have inspired a more limited formal response than conventional crimes.

True

In general, during periods of relatively strong economic performance, more regulatory laws have been imposed on business.

True

In its early years, criminal prosecution of corporations for violations of the Sherman Act was rare, and seldom successful.

True

In the latter part of the 19th century, corporate lawyers invoked the Fourteenth Amendment's "due process" clause to ward off federal attempts to regulate business.

True

Large corporations and major business entities have sometimes benefited from the adoption of regulatory laws.

True

Many of the activities commonly classified as white collar crimes are violations of administrative rather than statutory law.

True

Since its implementation, the RICO law has been used most frequently against individuals and groups who do not fit the conventional image of organized criminals.

True

Some areas of white collar crime, such as insider trading laws, are more fully developed in case law than in statutory law.

True

The 2008 financial crisis was widely blamed on a deregulatory philosophy that proliferated under both the Reagan and Bush Administrations.

True

The Court's decision in the famous Carrier's case of 1473 recognized a legal distinction between possession and ownership.

True

The Sherman Act of 1890 prohibited efforts to prevent full and free competition, as well as restraints in trade.

True

The United States Constitution says nothing specifically about white collar crime.

True

The dialectical theory of lawmaking views it as a process directed toward the resolution of various conflicts confronting society in a particular historical context.

True

The doctrine of holding corporations criminally responsible did not develop in countries predominantly governed by civil law.

True

The highest proportion of RICO cases in recent years has been white collar cases.

True

The overriding purpose of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was to restore public confidence in corporate financial statements and to encourage investment in corporate stocks.

True

The structuralist perspective on lawmaking recognizes that the state is committed to the system's long-term survival rather than to advancing the immediate interest of capitalist elites.

True

Toward the end of the 19ᵗʰ century, laws regulating or criminalizing a wide range of business practices were promoted and implemented in the U.S.

True

Under the common law tradition, a corporation could not face criminal charges.

True

_____holds a corporation quite directly responsible for harmful consequences when it can be shown that the collective actions of various corporate managers and employers taken together establishes responsibility.

aggregated fault

In the 17th and 18th century employee theft, embezzlement, and related acts:

became the targets of specific criminal laws

The text characterizes the 19ᵗʰ century in America as a period during which:

contradictory forces allowed businesses and enterprises much freedom, but certain harmful business practices were addressed by the law

The doctrine of ultra vires held that:

corporations cannot be held responsible for executive actions not authorized by their corporate charter

Which statement about the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) Act is true?

It has been applied to a range of white collar offenders

Which of the following is true of corporate criminal liability?

It is largely a 20ᵗʰ-century phenomenon

Which of the following has not been advanced as a criticism of RICO?

It places defense attorneys at a great advantage relative to prosecutors, due to weak enforcement provisions

Which of the following most accurately describes Edwin Sutherland's position on the use of white collar crime as a term?

It should be applied to white collar harm prohibited by criminal, civil or administrative law

Which of the following statements about the influence of business interests white collar crime laws is not true?

Lawmakers are most typically former businessmen themselves

Which of the following statements was true of England in the feudal and late medieval periods?

Laws protecting consumers and prohibiting unfair market practices gradually emerged

Which of the following provisions was not included in The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002?

Less oversight duties for corporate fraud

The respondeat superior rule does not ascribe corporate criminal responsibility when an agent:

has personally profited from the crime

The administrative agencies can be best described as:

operating like a mixture of the executive, legislative and judicial branch

The famous Carrier's case of 1473 in England:

provided a foundation for the modern law of theft, and a precedent for laws prohibiting employee theft

White collar crime has been an especially dynamic area of law since:

the 1970s

Adam Smith, the premier philosopher of capitalism, took the position that:

the free market and not the legal system is the best and most efficient means for preventing or minimizing harmful conduct by businesses

Protective legislation for working conditions:

was principally adopted only from 1970 on

Which of the following was the reason Richard Nixon was not charged and tried for offenses related to the Watergate scandal?

A Presidential pardon, which is an executive branch power

Which of the following could be described as the overriding objective of antitrust law?

Abolish monopolies and insure competition.

According to the text, in countries with a civil law system, the corporation has traditionally been seen as which of the following?

An aggregate of individuals

The first known laws directed at commercial transactions date back to which of the following periods?

Ancient Mesopotamia

Those who de-emphasize the differences between criminal law and civil law in responding to white collar crime stress all but which of the following points?

Both branches of law follow identical procedures

Which of the following is a prosecutorial problem under the identification theory, which requires proof of higher authority if the corporation itself is to be held liable?

Establishing that the corporate actors who carried out the illegal activity were at a high enough level to be said to be acting for the corporation

The Fourteenth Amendment was originally introduced in the 19ᵗʰ century to protect which of the following groups?

Recently emancipated slaves

Which of the following statements about administrative agencies is true?

They have broad policy-making powers which have delegated to them

The single most famous antitrust act, passed in 1890, was the _____ Act.

Sherman

Which of the following statements about the status of corporations as juristic persons is true?

Some critics argue that corporations, or juristic persons, should be stripped of the rights of natural persons

The view that white collar crime law is implemented by the state because it helps sustain the system and "legitimates" the state in the eyes of the general population is most consistent with which of the following perspectives?

Structuralist

Which of the following acts called for increased oversight duties for corporate fraud, and required corporate executives to personally certify corporate financial statements?

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

Which of the following statements about the application of criminal laws to harms committed by businesses is true?

The proper lines of demarcation between acceptable and unacceptable practices have not been self-evident to all