Select language, opens an overlay

Comment

The Chickenshit Club

Why the Justice Department Fails to Prosecute Executives
Mar 05, 2018PimaLib_NormS rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
The first thing one will notice about Jesse Eisinger’s enlightening book, “The Chickenshit Club: Why the Justice Department Fails to Prosecute Executives” is, of course, the vulgarity in the title. I would hope that potential readers would not be put off by this. “The Club” is a serious look inside the legal profession and why, after the economy cratered in 2008, the executives of the financial institutions that caused the crisis were not prosecuted and sent to jail. The title of the book refers to prosecutors who do not have the courage to take on cases that are not slam dunk victories. Unfortunately, too many corporations and executives are going unpunished for criminal behavior because government prosecutors are afraid to take on cases they might not win. Then, there are prosecutors that will not try a case because they are afraid that they will win and cause the company to fail, the “too big to fail” argument. I do see the merit in not taking on an unwinnable case. Why waste the time and money? But, what about doing what is right? What about some level of deterrence against future wrongdoing? Why weren’t the architects of the Great Recession put on trial? Oh, and another thing, how about we stop the unseemly practice of filling high government positions with business executives, then allowing those former executives to make decisions affecting the businesses from which they came? The whole shameful affair just reeks of chicken- . . . ah, you get the idea.