Intracorporate Plurality in Criminal Conspiracy Law
![handle is hein.journals/hastlj33 and id is 1185 raw text is: Intracorporate Plurality in Criminal
Conspiracy Law
By
SARAH N. WELLING*
The concept of conspiracy currently plays a significant role in
three areas of substantive law: antitrust, civil rights, and criminal law.
Although the role of conspiracy in these substantive areas of law differs
in many ways, all three require that the conspiracy consist of a plurality
of actors. Determining what constitutes a plurality of actors when all
the alleged conspirators are agents1 of a single corporation poses a con-
tinuing problem.
This problem raises two distinct questions. The first is whether,
when one agent acts alone within the scope of corporate business, the
agent and the corporation constitute a plurality. The second question
is whether, when several agents of a single corporation act together in
furtherance of the corporation's business, a plurality is established or
there is just one actor, the corporation, operating through multiple
agents. These questions have plagued antitrust law for some time, and
more recently have arisen in civil rights law.
The issue of what constitutes the requisite plurality also has arisen
under general criminal conspiracy laws. The law in this area is uncer-
tain. Courts have had trouble framing the issues correctly and have
relied on inappropriate precedents in making their decisions. At times,
courts also have avoided confronting the issue directly, or simply have
failed to analyze the question carefully. The result has been confusion
regarding what constitutes a plurality in an intracorporate situation for
the purpose of criminal conspiracy laws.
This Article examines the law on the plurality required for con-
spiracy under the criminal law in the two intracorporate fact patterns
* Assistant Professor of Law, University of Kentucky. B.A. 1974, University of Wis-
consin; J.D. 1978, University of Kentucky.
1. Throughout this Article, the term agent is used as it is defined in the Model Penal
Code. See MODEL PENAL CODE § 2.07(4)(b) (Proposed Official Draft 1962): '[A]gent'
means any director, officer, servant, employee or other person authorized to act in behalf of
the corporation or association ...
[1155]](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/hastlj33&div=49&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Intracorporate Plurality in Criminal Conspiracy Law
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