Paul's Justice Blog

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Required Readings (All four bookstores receive the book order for this class)

David O. Friedrichs. 2009. Trusted Criminals: White Collar Crime in Contemporary Society, 4^th edition. Belmont: Thomson-Wadsworth. NOTE that we are using the fourth edition; earlier editions are cheaper because they are out of date. You will be responsible for the content in this edition, which includes updated numbers and examples.  (The link goes to amazon.com for easy purchasing. The publisher also rents the book and sells eBooks.) You can read the first chapter online for free if you are a little delayed in getting a book. 

Jeffrey Reiman and Paul Leighton. 2013. The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison (10th Edition), 10th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon. NOTE that we are using the tenth edition; earlier editions are cheaper because they are out of date. You will be responsible for the content in this edition, which includes updated numbers and examples. (Link goes to amazon.com for easy ordering; the publisher also sells a eBook version - $20 for 180 day rental)

• How to Find Cheaper College Textbooks (NY Times)

• If you have problems keeping the right files with you, check out SugarSync, which makes your documents available from any computer by keeping them on a secure website - no more thumb drives or emailing yourself documents. There is also a 'magic briefcase' option that keeps all the documents in that folder synced across multiple computers (work on  a file at home and it will update the file on your laptop automatically). 

• The Study Hacks blog teaches students how to do (very) well without burning out. It preaches the idea that you should: do less; do better; and know why.

• Students’ “on-task behavior” (studying) started declining around the two-minute mark as they began responding to arriving texts or checking their Facebook feeds. By the time the 15 minutes were up, they had spent only about 65 percent of the observation period actually doing their schoolwork. Evidence from psychology, cognitive science, and neuroscience suggests that when students multitask while doing schoolwork, their learning is far spottier and shallower than if the work had their full attention. They understand and remember less, and they have greater difficulty transferring their learning to new contexts.

Recommended Reading 

Reiman and Leighton, The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison: A Reader. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. 0205661793

Barry Ritholtz. Bailout Nation: How Greed and Easy Money Corrupted Wall Street. New York: Wiley. 0470520388

Ronald Burns, Michael Lynch and Paul Stretesky. 2008. Environmental Law, Crime and Justice. New York: LFB Scholarly Publishing. 9781593322762

James Munton and Jelita McLeod. The Con: How Scams Work, Why You're Vulnerable, and How to Protect Yourself. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield. 1442207310.

Penny Green and Tony Ward. 2004. State Crime: Governments, Violence and Corruption. London: Pluto Press. 0745317847.

Neal Shover and John Wright. 2001. Crimes of Privilege. New York: Oxford U Press. 0195136217.

David Simon.. Elite Deviance, 9^th ed. Boston: Pearson. 0205571956

James Coleman. 2005. The Criminal Elite. Worth Publishers. 0716787342

Stephen Rusoff, Henry Pontell and Robert Tillman. Profit Without Honor: White Collar Crime and the Looting of America, 4th ed. Prentice Hall. 0131722328.

• Taibblog (Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone)
• Naked Capitalism (investment banker);
• the Big Picture (market researcher);
• Foreclosure Fraud (Save My Home Law group);
• Footnoted (problematic issues from companies' SEC filings);
• White Collar Crime Blog (by law professor)
• White Collar Fraud blog (by convicted white collar felon)

Date

Required Reading

Click here for syllabus (.pdf) | Career & Job Info

I would recommend bookmarking this page for further reference. You may need to hit the Reload/Refresh button to get the latest version. 

Subprime Primer - very funny, direct, sometimes crude but helpful short explanation (stick figures in 45 powerpoint slides). [For those interested: Animated explanation of how a CDO works (Portfolio.com); a brief overview of fraud in real estate, mortgages and homebuilders (with a follow up on non-feasance). 

I want my bailout money (YouTube, mp3, ringtone)

Columbia Economist Dr. Jeffrey Sachs speaks candidly about corruption in the United States

(If you don't have your book yet, you can read the first chapter online for free)

Clip from The Corporation: Investigative journalism and corporate power [Monsanto and milk] (10 min YouTube.com). For more, see the milk info from preventcancer.org and organic valley (they produce organic milk, so do have an interest, but they cite many of the original medical studies). The bovine growth hormone was made by Monsanto, which is the subject of a devastating expose; it notes that: "Another former Monsanto scientist said that after company scientists conducted safety studies on bovine growth hormone, all three refused to drink any more milk, unless it was organic and therefore not treated with the drug." 

ProPublica - nonprofit, award-winning investigative journalism

Public Citizen - even if you're skeptical about Nader for President, the organization does some great work. 

The Talking Heads' David Byrne talks about the harm of payola. There's a brief history of payola and a Salon.com report on "pay for play" ("Why does radio suck? Because most stations play only the songs the record companies pay them to.)

The Project on Government Accountability

Whistlebower.org [See the video of their conference on food integrity featuring several whistleblowers, a 30 minute video on retaliation against whistleblowers, ]

Daily Show on the identity of Watergate whistleblower 'Deep Throat.'

A Force to Be Reckoned With (Fraud Magazine).

PBS Frontline Video: "A Dangerous Business" Revisited. The New York Times also has a collection of stories on McWane (part of their Workplace Safety investigations)

PBS Frontline Video: Tax Me If You Can ("because the government is not collecting all that is owed -- the biggest piece of which is illegitimate tax shelters -- everyone else is paying 15 percent more than they should" - from the summary ~ Many firms didn't pay taxes (Washington Post) 

The Birth of the Corp from The Corporation DVD (via You Tube - [see complete playlist])

Peanut Processor Ignored Salmonella Tests~ Recalls.gov ~ Center for Food Safety ~ If you eat salmon, check out the Findlaw.com column on the disclosures about additives to color the fish (the SalmonFan is used to help pick the desired color). There's much worse on BarfBlog (food safety blog). 

“In Settlement, A Warning to Drugmakers.” ~ a good discussion of "predatory pharma" (check out the many links) and an overview of the many recent legal settlements involving pharmaceutical companies ~ prescription project  

IN CLASS QUIZ #1: read Peanut Processor Ignored Salmonella Tests (Washington Post). Your quiz will ask: (1) How many people [a] died and [b] were injured because of the salmonella outbreak linked to this plant (2) how many tests were positive for salmonella in 2007 and 2008 (3) what did the company do after receiving the positive test results (4) did the company [a] report any of these test results to a government regulator and [b] did they have a duty to do so (5) how frequently is the average plant inspected in Georgia? [6 points]
Optional BONUS question: What causes salmonella, what are the symptoms and how long does it last? [up to 2 points]

Remember – the in class quizzes are to be completed in class. You prepare answers and study before class, then I will give you a sheet with these questions on it and you will write out the answers during the part of class where we do the quiz. You need to be in class when the quiz is distributed to take it.

Multinational Monitor site 

Bureau of Labor Stats - workplace injuries (why the real numbers are higher than reported)

New economy fallout – ‘wage theft’ from paychecks ~ When the boss steals your wages: The invisible ($19 billion a year) epidemic ~ Workplace Bullying Institute (abuse by employer at work)

The Long Shadow of Bad Credit in a Job Search (Nearly half — 47 percent — of employers use credit checks when making a hiring decision) 

Confessions of a Corporate Spy

In the fall of 2007, Peabody Energy Corp., the coal-mining giant, spun off all its unionized mines into a new company. In the process, it got rid of the promises of health care it had made over generations to coal miners and their families - people who had accepted lower wages in exchange for health care needed because of occupational hazards. Read: America's dirtiest coal company and its strategic bankruptcy.

IN CLASS QUIZ #2: Read 'Pre-crime' come to your job. Your quiz will ask: 1) How is the report by Social Intelligence Hiring different from a criminal background check? (In answering this question, please give at least two specific sources) 2) What does Social Intelligence Monitoring do? 3) On page two of the article, the author notes that with personnel actions you don't always get to face your accuser. What are the concerns he discusses in the rest of that paragraph? [5 points]

Michigan Attorney General warns of buying flood-damaged used car: The National Salvage Vehicle Reporting Program, an independent third party standards body for the federal government's comprehensive database on vehicle damage history, reports that thousands of water/flood damaged vehicles have been sold at auction, including some then resold without disclosure that they were flood-damaged. Floods can damage vital parts of a car including airbag sensors, brakes, and electrical system-and the damage may not show up right away. Don't put your hard-earned money into a flood-damaged lemon. [Some of the flooded cars you see in these pictures end up being towed the airport storage facility shown here (lots of cars!) then sold at auctions nationwide.

Global offshore money maze - understanding your options for stashing cash in tax havens

PBS Frontline Video: Spying On America

COINTELPRO - FBI program against black activists - 9 minute provocative YouTube video or 54 minute Google video. There are also some explanations of the program at The Public Eye

FBI Files on well known people (Beatles, Einstein, MLK, etc)

See Crash Course: Fuzzy Numbers for govt manipulation of inflation data. 

Peanut Processor Knowingly Sold Tainted Products

IN CLASS QUIZ #3: Read Judge Removed from Indian Trust Case for Saying Dept of Interior Is Racist. Your quiz will ask: (1) What is the case about – what are the trusts, the problems with them and how long have there been problems; (2) when Judge Lamberth writes that “this Court has played host to countless pleadings from clinically insane litigants and prison inmates but has rarely seen such a disrespectful tenor in a court filing,” is he referring to the Native Americans, the government or some other group; 3) the article quotes the Dept of Interior as saying the ‘decision speaks for itself,’ so what are two specific words or phrases that the Court of Appeals has used to describe the Dept of Interior? [5 points]

Interview (59 minutes) with Barry Ritholtz, author of Bailout Nation (good discussion of the causes of the financial crisis) 

Interview with the director of the documentary of Food, Inc. (24 min video) 

Deviant Globalization (video)

Looting Main Street, Matt Taibbi (Rolling Stone); also by Taibbi in Rolling Stone: Wall Street's Bailout Hustle. Read an excerpt of his book Griftopia. 

PBS Frontline Video: Bigger Than Enron

The 'Getting Tough on Corporate Crime' piece I did with Reiman was part of an invited lecture I gave that is available on YouTube, via my blog. 

Fortune magazine: What's Wrong with Wall St and How to Fix It. 

EPA says life is worth less (agency calculates value of life for cost-benefit analysis and recently lowered the value of life - thus creating fewer benefits for life saving regulation) [Washington Post, 18 July 2008, A1]

Defending Science.org (Project of Scientific Knowledge and Public Policy) works to correct the distortions in knowledge introduced by industry in law making. See also the Center for Science in the Public Interest and The Pump Handle public health blog. 

Chocolate's Bittersweet Economy: Seven years after the industry agreed to abolish child labor, little progress has been made (Fortune.com, Feb 08)

Ticketmaster-Live Nation: A Sour Note ~ $13.50 'ticket fee' + the actual ticket price ~ NJ Congressman requests FTC investigation of Ticketmaster and reseller Tickets.now. ~ Ticketbastards

TEST 1 - remember to be on time

because no one will be admitted to take the final after the first person has left

Bonus question for test: read this article, and the bonus will ask, "what was the article about about and how did it relate to class?" In answering this question, discuss what the product is, the problem with it, evidence of wrongdoing, and what chapters/topics it relates to.

Quick overview of botnets and eFraud. The Information Warfare Monitor has more and the American Federation of Scientists has a good resource page. There's also a blog about the Russian Business Network, which were heavily involved in cybercrime and may or may not have been disbanded. 

One example of the problems with telemarketing fraud; payday lenders charging 720% interest and helped by big ("legitimate") banks.

IN CLASS QUIZ #4: Read the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse page on Social Networking Privacy and click on the link for General Tips for Using Social Networks. Your quiz will ask: 1) what are tips #2, 9 and 15 – and what was one additional tip you found important. Be sure to know both the general phrase for the tip and 1-2 sentences about why it is important. If you don’t get the problem with GEOtagging, click the link on the webpage. [4 points]

Friedrichs, Ch 8 finish 

NO CLASS

Communities and Environmental Laws focuses on how citizens can learn about the environmental laws and how these laws can be utilized to help the people make their communities healthier places in which to live. (20 min video)

Worksheet #1. Download the worksheet here (.doc) and read the article Identifying Psychopathic Fraudsters for the answers. This activity is instead of a class meeting and will be due at the start of class on Feb 25. [12 points] DO NOT EMAIL IT TO ME – hardcopy only. Late worksheets will be marked down.

March 4 - 10 NO CLASSES: WINTER RECESS

“Fair Mortgage Collaborative?” criticism of self-regulation 

How Business Crooks Cut Their Jail Time.

ch 11 Connecticut's suit against Countrywide Financial (pdf of complaint); California's suit against Countrywide financial (pdf of complaint) 

TEST 2 - remember to be on time because no one will be admitted to take the final after the first person has left

BONUS QUESTION 1. The Michigan Attorney General’s office has a consumer complaints division. Use your favorite search engine to find their website and locate the CONSUMER COMPLAINT/INQUIRY FORM. For extra credit, print off the first page of the .pdf form or the first page of the online form and bring it to class the day of the test with your name on it. You can only get extra credit for bringing it to the test and turning it in with your test. You are not allowed to leave the test and bring it back.

BONUS QUESTION 2. Read the information in this link about the spam messages. What ws the supposed reward for clicking ont he link? What happened to customres who tried to get the gift card (there were several bad outcomes, and a more complete list is worth more points than a shorter list).

In 1980, the last year of Jimmy Carter's administration, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) commissioned a series of three 30-minute films about worker safety.  In 1981, Reagan appointed a construction executive, Thorne G. Auchter, who proceeded to systematically dismantle the agency.  Evidently, the 3 films disturbed Thorne greatly, because OSHA issued a recall, threatening to withhold OSHA funds from any organization that did not return their copies of the films, which were promptly destroyed. But, a few union officials defied the ban and "stole" copies, which are now available on the internet (longer description and embedded YouTube video). Or see archive.org: The Story of OSHA; Worker to Worker; and Can't Take No More.

Steven Levitt: Crack Cocaine Economics (20 min video)

Smart on crime: why crime declined and what else we can do.

America's Real Criminal Element: Lead (Mother Jones, Feb 2013)

Canada's Insite is a safe injection site for drug users. (4 min video + Canada Supreme Court ruled that not allowing the clinic to operate under an exemption from drug laws would be a violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.)

Alex Stevens has studied drug policy in five countries and summarizes the key points in this 7 minute video.

A short summary of Portugal's decriminalization program.

Recommended: Appendix 2 (Why Criminology Needs Philosophy)

Companion website for the Rich Get Richer has chapter summaries and links for Ch 2

NY Times article, When Workers Die: U.S. Rarely Seeks Charges for Deaths in Workplace. 

Popcorn lung coming to your kitchen? and EPA microwave popcorn emissions study finally published. If you are interested in more information about this issue, the pump Handle blog has a popcorn lung category for all their posts on that topic, and Defending Science has a case study on the topic. The author of The Pump Handle articles is David Michaels, who has written a book called Doubt Is Their Product which is excerpted at Hazards magazine. 

Robyn O'Brien talk about food allergies. She is the author of The Unhealthy Truth: How Our Food Is Making Us Sick and What We Can Do About It - check out her website.

You Are a Guinea Pig: Americans Exposed to Biohazards in Great Uncontrolled Experiment: Synthetic materials are now firmly embedded in our lives and our bodies. Most have been deployed in our world and put in our air, water, homes, and fields without being studied at all for potential health risks, nor has much attention been given to how they interact in the environments in which we live, let alone our bodies. The idea that they should prove their products safe before exposing the entire population to them seems to be a foreign concept.

Bill Moyer's Trade Secrets: A two-hour special report on how chemical companies have collaborated to keep from American workers and the American public the full truth about the impact of chemicals on health and safety.

Companion website for the Rich Get Richer has chapter summaries and links for Ch 2

Companion website for the Rich Get Richer has chapter summaries and links for Ch 3

See We're in contact with uncontrolled chemicals. (Good summary and list of several specific chemicals)

Artificial dyes in Kraft Mac & Cheese banned by other countries because of cancer concerns, but present in US version.

Companion website for the Rich Get Richer has chapter summaries and links for Ch 3

Frontline examines why executives have not been prosecuted for the finanical crisis (53 min video. )

Ebbers' 25 Year Sentence for Worldcom Fraud Upheld. Good.

How Wall Street Defanged Dodd-Frank

PLEASE NOTE: Professors do not have regular office hours after the last class. Make sure to get in touch before classes end if you have an important issues to resolve. All back work should be turned in before the end of the last class. The late penalty escalates sharply at this point; papers turned in after the last day of class will be worth a maximum of 1 point. Work turned in at the final exam will only be counted if you have made prior arrangements with me. 

Companion website for the Rich Get Richer has chapter summaries and links for Ch 4.

This 6 min video shows the ideal, perceived and actual distributions of wealth from the data in the Building a Better America article.

IN CLASS QUIZ #6: Go to the class webpage and follow the link for Building a better America 9pdf). Your quiz will ask: (1) how many respondents completed the survey (N=??) (2) when asked what distribution of wealth they would like to put in, [a] people chose the distribution of what country and [b] what percent chose the unlabeled distribution of the US (3) when asked what percent of the wealth the top quintile (20%) should have, people said what (4) the actual wealth held by the top quintile in the US is what [5 points] 

remember to be on time because no one will be admitted to take the final after the first person has left

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