Disparity

[Rufus BugleWeed]

AFAIK
The person who drives the get away car is just as
guilty as the person who goes into the bank and
puts a gun under the teller's nose.
The person who works for a company that illegally
engages in an act can claim - I was just doing
what I was told by my employer. They are not
criminally liable for their actions except if they
are officers of the corporation.
Can one not say that society is condones illegal
acts in course of a legitmate business?
Can one make the case that society would be better
off if criminals in the course of business were
not shielded from prosecution?
Surely this concept has this been discussed before. Do you know where?

[Thomas Paul]

"The person who works for a company that illegally
engages in an act can claim - I was just doing
what I was told by my employer. They are not
criminally liable for their actions except if they
are officers of the corporation."
This isn't actually true. If you were aware that your actions were criminal or should have known that your actions were criminal then you can be held criminally liable.
Suppose you are a 17 year old high school student and your boss tells you that all the invoices need to be rewritten because the prices on them are too low. So you do it without realizing that your boss is committing fraud by inflating revenue. Should you be held liable?
Normally the law doesn't go after people below a certain position because the assumption is that they didn't know enough to put it together or it would be too difficult to prove that they knew enough. But if they had a document where you were bragging about how much your actions were going to fool the stockholders then you can bet that you would be prosecuted.
And one more thing, suppose your brother asks you to drive him to the bank. He goes in to make a withdrawal and you wait outside. He robs the bank. Assuming that you knew nothing of his plans, have you committed a crime?
[ June 19, 2003: Message edited by: Thomas Paul ]

[Paul Stevens]

Originally posted by Thomas Paul:
[QB
And one more thing, suppose your brother asks you to drive him to the bank. He goes in to make a withdrawal and you wait outside. He robs the bank. Assuming that you knew nothing of his plans, have you committed a crime?
[ June 19, 2003: Message edited by: Thomas Paul ][/QB]

Depends on the prosecutor, judge and possibly the jury.