Federal Responses to Organizational Crime in Republican and Democratic Administrations: A Longitudinal Analysis of Trends in Organizational Convictions

• In Event: Contemporary Trends in White-Collar and Corporate Crime Control Practices

Abstract

Using fifteen years of data collected by the United States Sentencing Commission (Organizations Convicted in Federal Courts), this paper focuses on organizations sentenced in federal district courts. Specifically, the relationships between organizational characteristics and sentencing outcomes are explored. The organizational characteristics include history of misconduct, annual revenue, size and structure of organization, type of industry in which the organization conducts business, financial status of the organization, as well as other organizational characteristics. In regards to the sentencing outcomes, number of convictions and severity of punishment are included. The data cover the years 1999 to 2013, which includes all of the Bush presidency as well as most of Obama presidency. Thus, trends in convictions and sentencing outcomes over different administrations are examined. Finally, suggestions are made based on the nature of the relationships uncovered to advance understanding of how changes in political administrations influence Federal responses to organizational crime.

Author

• Erica Fissel, University of Cincinnati