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19 Appalachian J.L. 1 (2019-2020)
Restorative Justice, White-Collar Crime, and the 2008 Financial Crisis

handle is hein.journals/appalwj19 and id is 7 raw text is: RESTORATIVE JUSTICE, WHITE-COLLAR CRIME, AND THE 2008 FINANCIAL CRISIS Justin Rext Despite potential criminal behavior, no senior executives from major U.S. financial institutions were incarcerated for actions related to the 2008financial crisis, an outcome decried by a variety of academics, journalists, judges, and the broader public. This critique is premised on a retributive theory ofjustice and the belief that incarceration is an effective deterrent against future crime. But are calls for more criminal sanctions warranted? Restorative justice offers an alternative lens through which to critically evaluate the retributive paradigm that supports the recent calls to put more bankers in jail, and underlays the broader approach to criminal justice in the U.S. Though restorative justice has been increasingly used around the world for blue-collar street crimes and state crimes, its theory and application to white collar crime is less developed. This research fills that gap by evaluating, through the lens of restorative justice, the governmental response to financial wrongdoing related to the 2008financial crisis. I argue that a restorative justice approach to financial regula- tion is theoretically desirable. I also outline a variety offinancial regulatory reforms to more closely align the Department ofJustice's approach to white-collar financial crime and the federal financial regulators' approach to banking regulation with restorative justice principles. I. INTRODUCTION ...................................... 2 II. RETRIBUTIVE AND RESTORATIVE JUSTICE ................ 4 A. Questions and N eeds .............................. 4 B . V alues ............................................ 5 C. R estorative Practices ............................... 6 D. Restorative Regulatory Practices .................... 10 E. Responsive Regulation ............................. 11 III. WHICH APPROACH IS BEST SUITED FOR WHITE-COLLAR CR IM E ? ............................................... 14 A. Evidence Restorative Justice Works for Blue Collar C rim e ............................................ 14 B. Evidence Restorative Justice and Responsive Regulation Work for White-Collar Crime ........... 15 C. Limitations of Retributive Justice for Addressing Xhiite-Collar Crim e ............................... 17 t Justin Rex, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Bowling Green State University. He researches regulatory policy, with a focus on regulatory capture, the bureaucratic politics of financial regulation, and the regulation of white-collar financial crime.

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