Corporate Criminal Justice The following study is a critical analysis of four articles or book passages relevant to the study of criminal justice in a corporate context. Each essay or book excerpt will be analyzed in turn and in the context that each has a significant intellectual contribution to make to the contemporary study of corporate criminal justice. While this is a relatively new specialization within the corporate and criminal justice fields, it is nevertheless a very important one. The IRS indicates that crime has recently been categorized in terms of motivation, not in terms of the victim (Internal Revenue Service). This means that greed has become an enormous criminal category, one that must consider the excesses of white-collar crime. Additionally, there is the matter of corporate security and management of asset securities. For corporations, this means achieving a delicate balance between complying with the law, relying on federal law enforcement agencies for protection, but also turning to private security firms and forces to protect their individual, corporate interests.

Two of the essays to be examined regard the importance of corporate criminal justice in terms of law enforcement and prosecution. The first is Chapter One from the Internal Revenue Service's Financial Investigations, titled "Why Financial Investigation?" The second essay on this issue is Kimberley Keller's "Securing Security Expert Testimony," which examines ways that prosecutors can insure that their key witnesses meet challenges from the defense. The remaining two essays regard the matter of corporate security and the privatization of police forces. The first is Chapters One and Two from Daniel Dalton's Security Management: Business Strategies for Success. The second essay is Robert McCrie's "Three Centuries of Criminal Justice Privatization in the United States." Taken together, all four of these essays speak to a new corporate world in which business concerns and criminal concerns are less easily distinguished.

Internal Revenue Service: "Why Financial Investigation?"

In this chapter, the author attempts to explain the importance of financial investigation in the modern world. In the first few pages, it is made clear that criminal justice now categorizes crimes according to motivation not according to who the victim is. This distinction means that crimes are examined based on whether or not they are crimes of passion or crimes of greed (Internal Revenue Service). In this context, it is easy to see why financial investigation becomes important from a criminal justice perspective. Crimes of greed involve money. Where there is money, there is almost always power. To discover crimes, investigators must be able to sift through documents and records and understand how the flow of money can indicate that crimes are occurring or have occurred. This, the essay stresses, is the role of the financial investigator, who seems to be one part accountant and one part Sherlock Holmes.

This chapter specifically deals with a number of concepts including a review of contemporary headlines indicating the need for such investigation, an overview of what it means to be a financial investigator, the types of crimes that would fall under the examination of such an investigator, the skills required to do the job, and what kinds of federal and non-federal agencies employ the services of financial investigators (Internal Revenue Service). In all, this chapter fulfills its purpose of providing an overview of what a financial investigator is and why they are needed in the current criminal justice climate. However, when we really begin to examine the chapter and the rhetorical style, it becomes evident that this chapter is not only a summation of the function of the financial investigator. It is also a pitch for interested individuals. Consider that the chapter begins with sensational headlines to catch readers' attention, follows with an examination of what the job entails, what skills are required, and what sample cases might be like. The chapter even concludes with a list of potential employers. In all, this chapter reads more like a recruitment pitch, than an impartial examination...

Merrell Dow Pharmaceutical and Kumho Tire Co. v. Carmichael -- have changed the way that expert testimony is admitted to the courtroom (Keller 21). She explains that this is a critical issue, because securities issues in the courtroom often rely on the presence of expert testimony in order for a case to be made. This means that both prosecutors and defense lawyers should be aware of the restrictions that Supreme Court decisions have placed on their ability to utilize the testimony of experts.
Keller examines the history of the issue, pointing out that at one time all expert testimony was admissible and that it was the jury's responsibility to sort it all out. After Daubert, however, the Supreme Court ruled that the case judge should act as a "gatekeeper" as to what kind of testimony can be considered expert and what should be excluded (Keller 22). Kunho extended this by permitting the opinions of experts to be entered into testimony even without the presence of hard data to back up those opinions (Keller 23). The primary thrust of Keller's exposition is the three ways that lawyers should prep their expert witnesses so as to increase the chances that they will beat the Daubert challenge. These include: show that the expert is actually "qualified," show that his/her conclusions are based on "reliable methodology," and show the "relevance" of the testimony to the case (Keller 24). Following this prescription, Keller then launches into a four-page explanation of how this can be best accomplished within the context of a courtroom. The essay is written in an accessible manner that presents the author's conclusions in a way that makes their relevance clear. However, I would suggest that the usefulness of Keller's methods for beating the Daubert challenge are specifically pertinent to lawyers only, while the remainder of the essay if important for all students of criminal justice.

Daniel Dalton: Security Management

This excerpt from Dalton's exceptionally detailed account for how private security firms can succeed in the corporate world consists of chapters one and two. These two chapters detail the purpose of the book as well as the importance that Dalton places on advocacy. Dalton writes of his purpose, "This book is all about the cycle of success for security decision makers" (Dalton 4). It doesn't get much more straightforward than that. In writing this book, Dalton is literally responding to his belief that most people on both sides of that decision making process don't have a clear conception of how security issues can fit into the corporate world. Accordingly, Dalton sets himself the auspicious goal of teaching security professionals how they can redirect their business focus and consequently become more effective (Dalton 7).

To this end, Dalton immediately sets himself to training, or re-training, security professionals about how to be effective in Chapter Two. This is where Dalton's abilities to instruct really are evidenced. Not only are his ideas significant in this chapter -- the importance of advocacy for security professionals (Dalton 15) -- but he also presents his material in a very effective manner. Theoretical exposition is immediately followed by practical examples, followed by more theory, followed by more examples. In this way, Dalton's text already shows extreme promise in providing important knowledge to security professionals but also in instructing them in how to recognize how to use these skills in real life situations.

Robert McCrie: "Three Centuries of Criminal Justice Privatization"

Robert McCrie's essay is certainly the most historical of this group. Whereas the others were generally more concerned with the practical application of criminal justice theory, McCrie is presenting information here that is almost wholly theoretical or at least primarily academic. He counters opposition to privatization of criminal justice forces -- primarily the police, though…