Justice of criminal economic corporations and individual activities in pipe-dream - Essay Example

Justice of Criminal Economic Corporations and Individual Activities in Pipe Dream Criminal prosecution seeks to bring justice to the injured people, or ensuring that the courts serve justice to the people. Therefore, everybody who commits a crime is eligible for prosecution in a court of law. The affected people hope that through this prosecution, they will have justice. However, in some instances, this is not the case. Although the courts could be willing to prosecute criminals, it is difficult to prosecute a corporation.

It could take a while for the affected to see justice done, while in other instances, there is no justice served at all. Although it is possible to prosecute an individual, this is not easy in some instances, as whenever prosecuting an individual, there is always the price to pay for such a choice. These are the underlying issues whenever prosecuting an individual. These, among other factors discussed in this essay render justice of criminal economic corporations and individual activities in pipe dream.

While some of these activities are easily detectable, others take a long time. It is with this regard that organizations have found it useful to engage independent external auditors. These auditors help in detecting any form of criminal activities taking place within the firm. On the other hand, individual activities, whether in the corporate world or not, are easily detectable by the law. Levitt (164) observes that the increase in the level of prosecution for criminals in the 1990s significantly contributed to the sharp decrease in the level of crime then.

Thus, the higher the number of prosecutions in a jurisdiction, the lower is the crime rate in that country. In the film Dead Man Walking, Matthew Poncelet after injecting two teenagers with a poisonous injection faces execution for his crime. However, a sister tries to argue for his innocence, which would have won him freedom. His death, despite having brought happiness to the parents of the diseased children, cut short his life. Having had dependants, his death meant suffering of these people.

As dependants have no income whatsoever, they face suffer the most during hard economic times. George, while taking part in drug trafficking activities, severally faced the law (Blow film). In the film (Blow), George faces sentence several times for selling cocaine to the people. With the understanding of the effects that drugs have on the society, the judge never spared him, in these accounts. An economy, whose labour force is under heavy influence of drugs records poor performance. The GDP, which is the total output of all organs in a country decreases significantly whenever people get under the influence of drugs.

This is because the government makes its revenues through taxes (Messere et al. 224). If there are few people working, then there are levels of taxation for the government. Additionally, the money used to buy drugs if wisely invested, could contribute to economic growth. The biggest measure for economic growth is the level of investment in a country. if there are more investments, then there is an increase in the economic growth of the country. Investment directly or indirectly creates jobs for the people.

Other arguments point out that illegal drugs too contribute to the growth of an economy. They either invest the money, or save it in banks, where the banks invest them in income generating activities. Although there are laws put to curb this behaviour, the high demand for the drugs among the addicts fuels the thriving business (Freidman web). According to the law of demand, an increase in the demand for commodities increases the level of supply (Boyes and Michael 55). However, regardless of the level of punishment that government subjects to individuals in the drug business, these efforts are futile.

There is no way of solving this problem; it could only have been possible through the ban of crack, 17 years ago (Friedman web). Banning of crack would have led to no supply, against a high demand. This would have made the drugs less affordable by the people, as prices rise against a low supply. In the long run, due unaffordability, people would have given up the business or abuse. Crime, whether corporate or individual, has its price. According to Becker (169), although the law seeks to protect the people from different forms of crime activities, be they rape, fraud or murder, there is still a high rate of crime in the society.

Further, Becker (169) argues that despite states spending millions in protecting the law, punishment has little significance in ending crime among the people in the society. Rather, implementing better mechanisms to deal with such incidences would best deal with the problem. Mocan and Gittings however hold a different view all together. Evidently, they prove that the higher the level of punishment for a particular crime, the higher the decrease in the crime rates among the people in the society (453).

In their argument, these Mocan and Gittings hold that “each additional execution decreases homicides by about five, and each additional commutation increases homicides by the same amount, while an additional removal from death row generates one additional murder (453).” Thus, the more the government executes people involved in crime, the higher the chances of solving them. Every choice has a consequence. Economists argue that an opportunity cost is any forgone alternative whenever making a decision.

Corporates however help in funning crime, at the detriment of individuals, as witnessed in the film Blow. George, having been a drug dealer saved his money with a bank, yet none of the workers questioned the source of the money. Theirs was the profit that they made, without caring the effect this had on the people whom he sold the drugs. Thus, corporations, whenever they neglect this ethical responsibility, not only cause suffering to the people, but also negatively affect the economy. There is a danger of an economy whose citizens engage in drug business; in case the drug business closes, the economy suffers.

Thus, in an effort to save the economy, the government would indirectly allow the business, either by less p0roisecution of the individuals. This would however have ripple effects such as poor productivity of the citizens. In conclusion, prosecuting crimes is an important element of the law. It helps in bringing sanity among the people, as well as serving justice to the individuals. However, this is not always the case, as a number of factors render it impossible for the courts to serve justice to the individuals and corporations.

While it is difficult to prosecute a corporation owing to the expertise of agents hired, the war is equally tough on individual prosecution. Further, corporations fun crimes, thus making prosecution more difficult. Although corporate crimes occur more frequently, prosecuting them is a problem, as some take long to detect. On the other hand, sentencing an individual contributes to a decline in the national GDP of a country, especially whenever a person goes to jail. Although crime prosecution is essential in solving most issues in the society, in most cases, this does not happen.

Works Cited Becker, Gary S. "Crime And Punishment: An Economic Approach." Journal Of Political Economy 76.2 (1968): 169. Business Source Complete. Web. 30 Nov. 2013. Blow. Dir. Ted Demme. Perf. Jonny Dep, Jordi Mola, Ray Liotta, and Paul Reubens. New Line Cinema. United State. 2001. Film. Boyes, William J, and Michael Melvin. Economics. Eagan, MN: South-Western Cengage Learning, 2009. Print. Dead Man Walkin. Dir. Tim Robbins. Perf. Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn, Robert Prosky, and Louis Smith.

Gramercy Pictures. United States. 1995. Film. Freidman, Milton. “An Open Letter to William Bennett” The Future of Freedom Foundation 1990. Web. 30 November 2013 http://fff.org/explore-freedom/article/open-letter-bill-bennett/ Levitt, Steven D. "Understanding Why Crime Fell In The 1990S: Four Factors That Explain The Decline And Six That Do Not." Journal Of Economic Perspectives 18.1 (2004): 163-190. Business Source Complete. Web. 30 Nov. 2013. Messere, Ken, Flip . Kam, and Christopher Heady.

 Tax Policy: Theory and Practice in Oecd Countries. Oxford [u.a.: Oxford Univ. Press, 2003. Print. Mocan, H. Naci, and R. Kaj Gittings. "Getting Off Death Row: Commuted Sentences And The Deterrent Effect Of Capital Punishment." Journal Of Law & Economics 46.2 (2003): 453-478. Business Source Complete. Web. 30 Nov. 2013.