White Collar Crime: Public Corruption

Washington, DC partner Aitan Goelman wrote a chapter on Public Corruption for the new ABA Publication, The State of Criminal Justice, 2006.

The State of Criminal Justice includes contributions from leading practitioners and academics. It pulls together data from around the country to reveal trends in the system. How are women's roles in violent crime changing? What steps are some states taking in efforts to utilize the newest DNA technologies? How do losses from cybercrime compare with losses from physical crime?

The State of Criminal Justice, 2006 addresses these topics and more, including alternative sentencing and prisoner re-entry, parallel proceedings, international anti-cartel enforcement, the death penalty, and minority and juvenile crime.

The report reveals greater utilization of DNA evidence not only to convict the guilty but also to free the innocent. While proposals for a universal DNA database are still being debated, several states have taken the initiative to collect DNA from all arrested individuals, and the Justice Department is preparing rules that would mandate collection of DNA from most people arrested or detained by federal authorities.

The ABA report also notes that some estimates are that losses due to cybercrime now exceed the costs of physical crime. The future will likely bring increased use of undercover online investigations, as well as for more prosecution of complex cases involving high technology.

There has been a significant drop in the number of death penalties in recent years, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. The State of Criminal Justice reports that among the likely reasons is "increased awareness that the sentence of life without parole really means without any possibility of parole." Further, the document states, the international trend away from capitol punishment has continued.

The dramatic increase of women within the criminal justice system means that two issues must be addressed. First, women must have access to similar programs to which men are currently entitled, such as community-based programs and educational programs. But programs specific to women must also be in place, such as health services.

Finally, the report includes a synopsis of over 30 Supreme Court cases during the 2005-2006 term related to criminal justice.

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