So much crime, so much injustice. Here is what you can do

Last night, when I returned from work I found a burglar stealing the most valuable item in my apartment. Yes, you guessed it, my laptop. Anything but that right? I blocked the exit to my apartment and called the police. Yes, I know it was stupid thing to do, to try and stop a robbery because you never know what sort of weapon a person may have or what he/she may do with it. I guess I did not contemplate laptop or life? In that moment, I was concerned only for my precious laptop.

The police finally arrived and arrested the burglar. She was charged with breaking and entering with intent to commit a felony (since my laptop is worth more than $250, under Massachusetts law her attempt to steal my laptop is consider larceny, a felony that carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison or a fine of $20,000). She was convicted, sentenced to 2 years in prison, and will receive a year of probation upon her release. Whether you think the punishment is severe or not is a matter subjective to your feelings about your laptop. I love mine. Regardless, I had no say in what punishment she ought to get, the state prosecuted her.

The above story is fake, none of that really happened to me. But everything else I am going to share with you is 100% true.

So for the last few months, I like you have been pondering on how a group of thieves stole the identities of two million people, defrauded those people of millions of dollars over the course of a few years, and yet not one of the thieves has been charged with a crime. In fact, most of the bandits have access to the same resources they used to carryout their crimes. They have the same potential to commit similar crimes on a grander scale. They wield computers, big bright smiles and brighter personalities. At all times, they are constantly on the look for people looking for solutions. They are out walking the streets and you could be the next victim.

The bandits are Wells Fargo employees including its management and leadership. To keep from disturbing your state of mind, I believe John Oliver's humorous recap suffices in filling you in on the details of this bold crime by a gang of bankers.

Corporate fraud is nothing new thing. However, the actions of Wells Fargo employees are blatantly and shamelessly criminal. These are not evil geniuses cooking complex recipes. Wells Fargo committed identify theft on a grand scale.

The equivalent at the individual level is that a fraudster obtains your personal identification information (i.e. SS#, address, and DOB), opens and maxes out multiple credit cards under your name leaving you in debt.

You would most likely feel that justice has not been carried out if that person was found and fined $450 or the equivalence of just 3% of his/her quarterly income. Yet, this is exactly what happened with Wells Fargo fraudsters. So, why is that not one of the Wells Fargo bandits has been prosecuted for their crimes?

Eric Reed succinctly explains "why bankers don't go to jail,"

Criminal law is about targeted blame. A prosecutor must prove beyond a reasonable doubt what each, named defendant did and the criminal intent behind those actions. In a large institution, however, that chain can be broken and parsed so much that it's next to impossible to prove anyone's participation in the overall fraud.

If you would like learn more about why our criminal justice systems is so very merciful to white collar criminals, I would recommend you to read The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap by Matt Taibbi. You will learn about the philosophy of collateral consequences. Collateral consequences is a concept that asks that prosecutors weigh the criminal prosecution of a business against the damage that criminal prosecution could cause innocent stakeholders associated with the business, i.e. loss of jobs, loss of capital by investors, as wells as the possible disturbance a criminal prosecution could cause in the markets. Collateral consequence serves not only as a shield for a business but it now serves as a shield for agents of the business, i.e. the employees and leadership (see HSBC). Instead of criminal prosecutions, companies and prosecutors negotiate settlements via deferred prosecution agreements and non-prosecution agreements in which companies pay fines without ever confessing their wrongs. The bigger the fish, the more lenient prosecutors are because the higher the possible collateral result from a criminal prosecution. Great read.

In short, if you want to commit a crime, get a job with a multinational corporation, and do your dirt while you are on the clock.

What I would like to know is how can we the people deliver justice where our criminal justice systems fails - particularly in circumstances of corporate criminality?

In a previous blog post, I discussed the groundswell:

"desire for people to connect, create, stay in touch, and help each other,"

Such as helping each other get justice. I propose a groundswell for justice.

The recent #grabyourwallet campaign is a good example that collective action can reform business practices. Furthermore, the history of America is a history of collective resistance. There is the Boston tea, the Montgomery Bus Boycotts,  and the explosion of the divestment movement. Boycotting is one of many of our tools to protest an enterprise that acts within the law yet behaves contrary to our principles.

But! What recourse is there for justice when individuals shielded against prosecution by the great wall of big money (corporations) break the law? In the case in which our highest prosecutors do not do their job, and claim that corporations are too big to fail and individuals too important to jail?

Here is an obvious suggestion. We make citizens' arrest and demand prosecution. A citizen's arrest is

an arrest by an ordinary person(s) without a warrant, allowable in certain cases.

Imagine two million people marching to the homes of the employees that partook in Wells Fargo's fraud to make a citizens' arrest. I am not sympathetic to the argument that the boiler room culture at Wells Fargo pressured individuals to commit crimes. We talk about personal responsibility with street criminals but we absolve white collar criminals of personal responsibility. Why? I look forward to your answer.

There are times in which extreme action is required to move our bureaucrats to action. Even a few hundred people marching to the home of an executive to arrest him for his crimes would energize our spirits and move us to exercise our power. And there is no power like people power. 

If you or I stole someone's identity, and used that identity for our personal financial gain, we would certainly face multiple counts of felony charges. So why aren't they?

I am as enraged and fed up as you are with too big to fail, too rich to jail. I need not repeat that 'no one is above the law, the law is the law.'  Are you audacious enough to bring criminals to justice? Are you ready to make an arrest?

WELL, LET'S GO!