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37 Alb. L. Rev. 61 (1972-1973)
The Criminal Responsibility of Corporate Officials for Pollution of the Environment

handle is hein.journals/albany37 and id is 71 raw text is: Comments THE CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY OF CORPORATE OFFICIALS FOR POLLUTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT Introduction In 1307 an Englishman was put to death for violating a Royal Proclamation on smoke abatement.' While no one in the United States has gone so far as to advocate capital punishment for envir- onmental offenders, it is not unrealistic to believe that as time grows short for saving the habitability of our country, society will choose more frequently to employ its ultimate legal weapon against pol- luters-the criminal law. As a result, we may witness the anomalous occurrence of conservative American businessmen, often critical of the recent extension of criminal due process, arguing that they were not properly advised of their Miranda2 rights. Likewise, those most radical in matters of environmental protection, normally de- fenders of Miranda type decisions, may well be complaining about coddling the environmental criminal.3 Today criminal sanctions are frequently provided for in environ- mental legislation, but they are seldom used.4 It is particularly curious why the weight of the criminal sanction has not fallen upon the individuals in control of one of our major environmental cul- prits, the American corporation.5 The prosecution of corporate 1 Mix, The Misdemeanor Approach to Pollution Control, 10 ARIM. L. REV. 90 (1968). 2 Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966). s Kadish, Some Observations on the Use of Criminal Sanctions in Enforcing Economic Regulations, 30 U. CHI. L. REv. 423, 424 (1963). 4 As to the use of the criminal sanction in public health offenses, including environmental pollution, see F. GRAD, PUBLIC HEALTH LAW MANUAL, 156-60 (2d. ed. 1970). See also, Morris, Environmental Problems and the Use of the Criminal Sanction, 7 LAND AND WATER L. REv. 421, 427-29 (1972). 5 Industrial waste is our largest source of water pollution. Such discharges have filled our waters with the equivalent of the untreated sewage of a nation of- 165 million people. Nelson, The National Pollution Scandal, in ECOIGICAL CRisis at 145 (G. Love and R. Love, eds., 1970). In addition, approximately 1/5 of our air pollution can be attributed to industry. Behle, Industry-The Views of the Regulated, 10 ARiz. L. REv. 74 (1968).

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