Takes 1

Annotated Bibliography

Is punishment for White Collar Crimes too lenient or too severe?

Cole Takes
Professor Malcolm Campbell
English 1103
3/4/16
Developed Article from a popular source
SORKIN, ANDREW R. "How Long to Jail White-Collar Criminals?" Nytimes. N.p., 16 Sept.
2005. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.
This article uses the Tyco International case to bring up the severity of white collar crime
punishments. It talks about the potential fate of former Tyco C.E.O. Dennis Kozlowski.
Mr.Kozlowski along with former C.E.O. Mark H. Swartz are accused of stealing more than one
hundred and fifty million dollars by giving themselves unapproved bonuses. Professor Simons

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argues whether longer punishments are effective for this type of crime when he says Yet
Professor Simon, for one, said he had doubts about whether an especially long sentence worked
as a significantly greater deterrent to potential white-collar criminals than shorter terms.
"Deterrence is, in my view, highly contextual," he said. "If you live in a community where young
people die all the time from stray bullets -- whether they are gang-banging or going to school -- it
is pretty hard to deter anyone with threats of punishment.
"In contrast, white-collar workers are extraordinarily sensitive to threats since their whole
socialization and environment encourage calculation of future benefit and cost." This makes
sense because white collar criminals are rarely hardened criminals. They are usually terrified of
prison and a shorter sentence as a scare tactic would be just as effective. Mr. Simons also goes
on to argue that many of the sentences recently have been as long as twenty five or thirty years
and most criminals dont get that long of a sentence for rape or non-aggravated murder. Mr.
Simons finishes his argument by saying that it is obvious the justice system is giving harsh
sentences to high profile cases as a scare tactic, but that it would be more effective to give
shorter sentences to more criminals, because offenders feel they have very little chance of getting
caught. The source for this article was an online newspaper. This article argued that sentences for
white collar criminals is too harsh. The author clearly took a side and backed up his arguments
with quotes from a professor of law, a former U.S. attorney and similar preceding cases. This
source is reliable and backs up what the author says. This source will give me some real
examples to use in backing up my argument. The author takes a side of the argument that most
do not so this will help me contrast my other sources. The quotes from the professor of law will
help give me an expert to back my information. I will definitely use Mr. Simmons quotes in my
paper.

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A Reliable Website as a Source

Haury, Amanda C. "Sentences For White-Collar Criminals: Too Harsh Or Too Lenient?"
Investopedia. N.p., 17 May 2012. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.
This article takes more recent examples into account and looks at the case of Chalana Mcfarland.
Mcfarland left lenders with 20 million in defaulted loans and only got a thirty year sentence.
Sholam Weiss was accused of running an insurance scam and received 845 years in prison. The
sentencing is noticeably inconsistent. The article then mentioned the more popular Bernie
Madoff Ponzi scheme. Bernie Madoff became a house hold name back in 2008, when he cost
people billions during the market crash, which caused his Ponzi scheme to collapse. He is
currently serving a one hundred and fifty year sentence. The author wraps up the article by
claiming when leniency is applied to white collared crimes the only winner is the culprit. He also
says that although white collared crimes are not violent crimes they still have victims and can
often cost people their life savings. The author clearly took the side of these punishments being
too lenient which is in contrast to my first source. The author Amanda Haury works full time in
the insurance industry giving her background knowledge on how some of these schemes work.
Investopedia is a reliable source and focuses on the stock market and the corporate world. White
collared crimes often have to do with the stock market making this a relevant source to my topic.
This is a popular source with updates and news on the stock market and corporate world. I can
use this for more recent cases of white collared crimes and for comparing cases for consistency.
It also gives valid arguments that contrast what my first source says, by arguing for more harsh
sentences for these criminals. The argument the author made has me thinking of the money
stolen differently. When I think of someone being put in jail for life over ten million dollars it
seems excessive but this author made me look at it as dozens of peoples life savings. The author

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also made me consider that a fifteen year sentence might not seem too bad, but when the accused
is already eighty six, it mine as well be a life sentence.
Scholarly Journal
Meiti, P.J. (2006)Fiercer Than a Tiger-White Collar Offenders Face Harsh Sentencing in PostBooker World, American University Criminal Law Brief: Vol. 1:ISS.1, Article 1.

This article starts out with an extreme example comparing a white collar offender suffering
physically who is remorseful about his actions and an attempted murderer who is not at all
remorseful about his actions. The white collar offender got a two hundred and fifteen year
sentence while the attempted murderer got a much more lenient sentence. The author then gets
into the issues with sentencing white collar criminals. He makes a valid point that when
calculating losses the numbers are often blown out of proportion when dealing with publicly
traded companies which is often the case. On top of that it is also an inexact science to attempt to
calculate a value for the losses a white collar criminal caused. The laws have also given judges
more freedom with a broad set of guidelines for sentencing these criminals. The author describes
the 1984 Act that made sentences much more inconsistent in the following quote Most
importantly, the act sought to standardize the sentences given to all convicted criminals after
November 1, 1987, including white-collar criminals. The system used a thorough Guidelines
Manual that divided offenses into nineteen parts. Each guideline has a base offense level that
may be adjusted up or down given the specific characteristics of the crime and the criminal. A
guideline may also have cross-references to other guidelines, which are equally binding and may
dramatically increase the guideline range. The author acknowledges that there are arguments for

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and against the 1984 Act. Since these advisories have been in place the author claims judges
have been inconsistent and unsure of how closely to follow these guidelines. The author
concludes by acknowledging that there are not easy solutions to making sentencing more
consistent and fair but also proposes some changes. He first claims that the guidelines for
calculating loss need to be changed to not overstate the amount loss when crimes involve a
public corporation. Lastly he states that the DOJ needs to reverse its on policy that requires
prosecutors to seek the harshest penalty available. The author seems to have decided that
sentences for white collar criminals is too harsh but he does give the facts and acknowledges
arguments from both sides. The author seems very legitimate. He cites all of his sources and has
had his work peer edited. This source seems the most legitimate of any of my sources and is an
academic source. This article will be useful because it makes arguments for both sides that I have
not heard in any other of my sources. I now understand that the system that tries to calculate loss
is flawed and overstated. It also has the most credentials.
4th Source
Liebelson, Dana. "Why Nobody Is Really Happy With New Guidelines For Punishing WhiteCollar Criminals." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 22 Apr. 15. Web. 16 Mar.
2016.
Last year a federal panel voted to change the guidelines that federal judges use to sentence white
collar criminals. The author explains that the punishments are so severe they are rarely taken
seriously by judges. The guidelines rely on a series of calculation to determine sentences. One
judge called the math hocus pocus. The changes aim to make punishments more fit to an
individual basis. The guidelines attempt to take into account a criminals role, their intent and
weather they destroyed the lives of those they affected or took a dollar from a million people.

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The author quoted Mary Price in the article who made a valid point saying "Do we just count
drugs, or do we look at [the harm] people really intended? How much harm did they cause?
Are they the courier or the mastermind? This is a valid comparison and seems to be one that all
of my sources make. The last article touched on this newer reform but did not solely focus on it
like this article did. The author quotes many actual judges making her seem legitimate. The
author makes a different argument than the other sources arguing instead that the laws are
unclear and not consistent with the crime committed. This source will help me get a grasp on the
newest law reform for my paper. It also opens up a whole new argument. The information on the
new reform laws will definitely be a part of my final paper and will help shape my argument on
the consistency of sentencing.