What I don't get is this obsession with making corporations people, except for the criminal part. Why can't a company be "thrown in jail" by cutting its heads off a jailing them. They want control but they don't want liabillity/responsibillity, they want rewards but no punishment, wins/gains but not losses. No matter what they do, they still win somehow and we continue this cultural narrative of meritocracy and equitable treatment under the law, but also unlimited campaign financing
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There is no obsession with making companies a legal person. It's done because it works, it's convenient, and it allows us to create giant organizations.
The thing you have to think about is what does it mean when someone says a company is a legal person? It means a couple of things:
- It allows companies to create contracts between themselves and real people. - It allows companies to own property (real estate, money, equipment, etc.) - It allows companies and individuals to sue other companies and individuals. - It protects companies from arbitrary or unjust government intervention.
Companies also have another very good feature. Investors can limit their liability. For example, if I own 10 shares of a company and the company goes bankrupt, I am not liable for the company's debts.
This good because it encourages people to invest, and it also protects people from being wiped out because of a bad investment.
Note, companies are not the only legal person. Governments are also legal people.
My question for you is how would you do things differently? What are the advantages of these changes?
I'm more concerned with their unequal treatment when it comes to the law vs ordinary people. There should not be parallel systems of punishment for corporations where they can receive any treatment not also available to the regular human defendant (with the same plain stipulations). I'm particularly concerned by their abillity to often "settle" criminal charges with a fine and no admission of wrong-doing. Who is actually allowed to pull that crap besides companies?
Unfortunately, a corporation cannot be jailed because it is a legal fiction. It's not sentient. It's just a collection of people (employees), assets, contracts, etc.
RE: "I'm particularly concerned by their abillity to often "settle" criminal charges with a fine and no admission of wrong-doing."
This is a result of plea bargaining and individuals can do that if they can afford a good lawyer and have a good case. An example is in the United States, an individual could please no contest to a charge and pay a fine. It is more or less the same thing.
I am not sure if companies admitting guilt would really change anything. The main reason is no one cares if a company pleads guilty and the other reason is prosecutors can compel guilty pleas through plea bargains (i.e. either you plead guilty, or we will go to trial and ask for a very harsh sentence).
> Unfortunately, a corporation cannot be jailed because it is a legal fiction.
That seems... I'm not sure what, but we do limit what convicted monopolist corporations are allowed to do. It's not the same thing as physical jail, but just because we can't physically put it in jail doesn't mean we shouldn't find it liable for malfeasance and hold it accountable and extract reparations from it.
An example of this is with the Sacklars. They're functionally no different than an illegal drug cartel, and yet they are spared criminal sanction. Any normal person or group of persons doing what they did would be in jail forever and have literally every cent taken from them. But the Sacklars/corp get away with a civil fine that keeps most of their wealth and more importantly, their freedom, on the table.
A corporation is a thing that money goes into and money comes out of.
Let's say a human being--a flesh and blood one, not a corporation--is convicted of negligent homicide and is sentenced to 4 years in prison. 100% of that person's income is lost for 4 years. For the rest of their life, after they're out of prison, their income potential is drastically reduced.
If that's what our judicial system is, then let's do that to corporations, too. Try the person--the corporate kind, not (necessarily) the flesh and blood kind--in criminal court. If the person is convicted of a crime, sentence them as per the sentencing guidelines. If the sentence is 4 years, then take the revenue of the person over the previous 4 years. That's what the fine is.
Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
It's just a collection of people (employees)
Yes, and if a company breaks a law, there was at least one person at the company who also broke the law. When the mob breaks laws, we use RICO. There appears to be no equivalent for corporations.
RICO-style laws are the equivalent that applies to corporations.
Its even more stark in jurisdictions that simply do not have the "No contest"/Alford pleas. And thats if a prosecution even happens at all, which is unlikely.