While researching cases in the law library this morning, a newspaper article from last month caught my eye. On 29 January 2010, Gary Fields published an article in The Wall Street Journal reporting that “Corporations facing criminal prosecution could face reduced penalties if they meet standards for tackling white-collar crime at their companies, under changes proposed by the U.S. Sentencing Commission.”
The article goes on to report that under the proposal, corporations could receive credit during sentencing if they have corporate compliance programs designed to combat white-collar crimes. When I read this article, I thought of the wonderful opportunity for my friend Justin Paperny, whom I’ve written about before.
Justin graduated from USC and went on to build a thriving career as a stockbroker at some of Wall Street’s most prestigious firms. A bad decision led to his being charged and convicted of securities fraud, and I met Justin when he served one year here at Taft Camp. During the time he was here, Justin worked diligently to master prison, and he emerged from his term much stronger than when he self-surrendered. He wrote a book (Lessons From Prison) about his experience.
Since Justin returned to society last May, he build a new career that has him speaking on the subject of ethics, and consulting with people who face criminal charges for white-collar crime. After reading the article by Mr. Fields, I thought that Justin could expand his business by offering programs designed to combat white-collar crime for American corporations. He certainly has the expertise and communication skills to design and present effective programs. The frequent reporting of white-collar prosecutions in America suggests that businesses and employees (and shareholders) could really benefit from the valuable information Justin has to offer.
I continue to broaden my understanding of white-collar crime by interviewing and writing the stories of many prisoners who left behind professional or business careers. I’m saddened when I listen to the ways their lives have been disrupted by the crimes they committed. The men with whom I talk frequently say that they would not have made the bad decisions that brought them to prison if they had understood the consequences of their actions. I hope Justin pursues opportunities to educate others by expanding his consulting service for Corporate America—he can teach the lessons he learned and hopefully prevent those people from making their own bad decisions that lead to problems.
This morning I ran 10 miles, and then did 600 pushups and 200 crunches. It was my first full workout since recovering from illness.
[consecutive running log: 3,870 miles over the past 437 days]
[pushups in 2010: 18,600]
Monday, 22 February 2010
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