US Chamber Says Corporate Settlements Go To 'Slush Funds'
From Law.com
Law enforcement is increasingly becoming a for-profit phenomenon, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce isn’t happy about it. The Chamber’s Institute for Legal Reform released a report Wednesday saying American companies are being pressured to settle state and federal allegations of misconduct by paying enormous amounts of money—money that law enforcement then diverts to its own “slush funds.”
The “Enforcement Slush Funds” report claims the use of public settlement money by federal and state prosecutors absent legislative approval “is threatening core constitutional, legal and ethical norms that undergird our legal system.”
And, according to the report, it’s “transforming law enforcement into ‘big business.’”
The report is divided into two parts: The first discusses federal law enforcement, while the second looks at state attorneys general. It says the settlement practices violate the principle of separation of powers that gives legislators sole control over spending, sidestep statutes that require public money to be deposited in the treasury and raise a host of ethical issues.
The ethical concerns arise when prosecutors and regulators use their authority to force targets of investigations to make “donations” to a favored third-party organization, charity or project, according to the report. That could lead officials to base their enforcement decisions on profit motives, or even political aspirations, as opposed to furthering the public interest.
Read more in our daily News Update...
From Law.com
Law enforcement is increasingly becoming a for-profit phenomenon, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce isn’t happy about it. The Chamber’s Institute for Legal Reform released a report Wednesday saying American companies are being pressured to settle state and federal allegations of misconduct by paying enormous amounts of money—money that law enforcement then diverts to its own “slush funds.”
The “Enforcement Slush Funds” report claims the use of public settlement money by federal and state prosecutors absent legislative approval “is threatening core constitutional, legal and ethical norms that undergird our legal system.”
And, according to the report, it’s “transforming law enforcement into ‘big business.’”
The report is divided into two parts: The first discusses federal law enforcement, while the second looks at state attorneys general. It says the settlement practices violate the principle of separation of powers that gives legislators sole control over spending, sidestep statutes that require public money to be deposited in the treasury and raise a host of ethical issues.
The ethical concerns arise when prosecutors and regulators use their authority to force targets of investigations to make “donations” to a favored third-party organization, charity or project, according to the report. That could lead officials to base their enforcement decisions on profit motives, or even political aspirations, as opposed to furthering the public interest.
Read more in our daily News Update...