The average sentence has fluctuated for some of these crimes (the figures for 1996 to 2001 are provided in the table in the back of this book). According to these figures, provided by the U.S. Sentencing Commission, for many crimes an offender is likely to be sentenced to more jail time today then he would have been in 1996.
Let's examine some of these offenses. Average sentences for racketeering and money laundering are up for the period shown. Racketeering is now a 94.1 month (8 year) sentence, money laundering a 37.8 month (3 year) sentence. These crimes often warrant sizeable fines and restitution orders. Total payments for money laundering exceeded $394.1 million. For racketeering the total exceeded $176 million.
Crimes such as bribery, tax evasion, and fraud fall under the rubric of "white collar crime." Feel like sidestepping the tax code? That'll be roughly 11 months in jail (up from 9 in 1996). Feel like bribing someone to get what you want? You'll serve 8 months in the slammer, down from the 14 months you would have served in 1996. Itching to commit some garden variety fraud? 14 months, up from 13.2 in 1996.
White collar crime seemed to fall beneath law enforcement's radar for many years. Philip Feigin, who spent 20 years as a state securities regulator in Colorado and Wisconsin, made this analysis of going after corporate wrongdoing pre-1980: "They were too complicated, they took too long, and judges never sentenced white-collar crooks to jail even if you convicted them." This attitude did reverse itself slightly after the successful prosecutions of Wall Streeters Michael Milliken and Ivan Boesky.2
But the numbers show that CEOs who cook the books have little to fear. From 1992 to 2001, only 14% of the 609 tagged by the Securities and Exchange Commission for criminal prosecution wound up behind bars. In the 1990s, Greg Smith notes, a bank executive convicted in the savings and loan scandal in excess of 36 months in prison did less time than a burglar (55.6 months) or a car thief (38 months). As Smith says in his citing of this data: "If you're going to steal, make sure to steal from company coffers — not a Dodge minivan off the street." Nationally, 60% of those convicted of fraud (of any kind) received probation.
Some cases of corporate fraud cost billions. The cost of the bailout of the savings & loans in the 1980s has cost somewhere between $200 billion and $1.4 trillion by some estimates. The collapse of Enron cost $60 billion, by an early estimate. The fraud at Waste Management Inc. in the early 1990s, one of the first cases to invigorate the public debate on corporate fraud, cost investors $6 billion. In these cases, should the firms simply be fined for their behavior or should individuals be held responsible?
How about drugs? Those arrested on drug-related charges represented 20.9% of those incarcerated at the state level, up from just 6.5% in 1980. More people are arrested for possession of drugs than for trafficking, but more are imprisoned for trafficking. A drug trafficker received an average sentence of 69 months in 2001, just under 6 years, and down from the 83 months (7 years) he served in 1996. A sentence for drug possession has increased from a 6 month to a 7 month sentence. But not all drugs are equal under the law. Legislation passed by Congress in 1986 takes a harsher approach to crack over powder cocaine. Simple possession for powder cocaine is a misdemeanor; simple possession for crack cocaine is a felony. The average sentence length for powder cocaine is 77 months, compared to 119.5 for crack cocaine. That's nearly as long as the current sentences for murder (203.4 months), kidnapping/hostage taking (181.5 months), robbery (93.5 months), and arson (82.1 months). In May 2001, legislation increased sentencing around the drug Ecstasy. Possession of 800 Ecstasy pills is now a 61 month sentence, up from 18 months before the law. An Ecstasy related crime now receives a 60 month sentence, up from 25 months. (Ecstasy and other club drugs are examined in Chapter 6).
The average sentence for civil rights violations has fallen from 37.2 to 13.3 months, a drop of 64%. Cases that fall under this category include hate crimes, laws that ensure unrestricted access to abortion clinics, church arson, and official misconduct. They also include employment rights, voting rights, and housing and welfare violations. Complaints around these four issues filed in district courts fell slightly from 1996 to 2000, from 42,007 to 40,908. And exception: the number of civil rights complaints have increased from 18,914 in 1990 to 40,908 in 2000, an increase of 116%. Could declining complaints translate into lighter sentences? Maybe. In many cases offenders must pay a fine and perform community service (a more fitting punishment, one might argue). Still, the shorter sentences are a curious development, considering the dialogue that has taken in this country about hate crimes, tolerance, and the liberties of all. The jails are full. The courts are over-burdened.
The average sentence for prostitution and pornography charges has increased from 29.1 months in 1996 to 52.8 months in 2001. The public in general and law enforcement in particular are increasingly adopting a zero tolerance attitude to such crimes. Regulatory offenses — those involving antitrust, environmental, food and drug, and administration of justice programs — tend to warrant million dollar fines rather than jail time. But it is important to note that sentences are generally longer than they were in 1996. Is the government trying to establish more control of its branches as national security became an increasingly hot issue? Quite possibly. Offenses involving the defense program received the longest sentences, 25.8 months.
Overall, the average sentence has fallen from 50.7 months in 1996 to 46.8 months in 2001, or 4 years in jail. How much time the offender typically serves, is a different question.
Sources: Chart data comes from U.S. Sentencing Commission. Other data from the Human Rights Watch, available at http://www.hrw.org; U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, "Civil Rights Complaints in U.S. District Courts, 2000, Civil Justice Data Brief, July 2002; "Stiffer Penalties Result from Graham Legislation." available from http://graham.senate.gov; "Crack vs. Powder Cocaine Sentencing." available from Families Against Mandatory Minimums from http://www.famm.org; "Enough is Enough." Fortune, March 18, 2002, p. 60; Reason, Tim. "Jailhouse Shock." CFO, September 1, 2000; Greg Smith. "Audit of Sentences Shows: Bad Execs Do Little Time." Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service, August 20, 2002. "Evildoers Inc." available from http://www.chicagomediawatch.org/02_1_enron.html; Linden, Laura and Leslie Weiss, "Tim Anderson: Raising S&L Hell." Mother Jones, November 8, 1996.
User Comments Add a comment…
12 months ago
PEOPLE WHO USE THEIR CHILDREN TO COLLECT MONEY AND OTHER GOODS FROM THE STATE, FILE FRAUDULENT TAX INFORMATION, NEVER DISCLOSE TRUE ADDRESS, USE AND DISTRIBUTE VARIOUS DRUGS, PUT CHILDREN IN DANGER WITH INDISCRIMINATE SELECTION OF LOVERS, AND HIDE CARS IN GARAGES TO EVADE REPO, ARE FAR MORE DANGEROUS TO SOCIETY THAN THE OCCASIONAL RECRATIONAL DRUG USER. AND YET, THE POLICE SEEMS CONTENT TO LET THOSE PEOPLE GO ON WITH THEIR CRIMES BECAUSE THEY ARE VERY DIFFICULT TO FIND. IS THAT JUSTICE?
about 1 year ago
What makes me sick, is how people seem to get shorter sentences for rape, and murder, than they do for possession of drugs, If an adult wants to do drugs, and it would in no way affect children, or others, let them do it, keep people in prison who really need to be there, the rapists, and murderer, and anyone who hurts a child in anyway should locked up for a real long time