A Restorative Justice Approach to White Collar Crime - Research Proposal Example

In order to explore this objective, it will be necessary to place some emphasis on white-collar crime in general.The Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002, a Federal Statute, was enacted in response to a number of corporate and accounting malfeasances most notably the alleged fraud of Enron and WorldCom. (Henning, 2008, 501) The primary goal of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was to increase the Federal court’s sentencing power with respect to white-collar crime. All this meant was that the traditional propensity toward lenience in white-collar crimes “was no longer acceptable.

” (Henning, 2008, 501)Other changes to the approach to white-collar crime are attributed to the Sentencing Commission’s guidelines issued in November 2001. This new guideline provides judges with a mandate to issue sentences that reflect culpability so that the sentence imposed is consistent with the damages inflicted. (Henning, 2008, 502) A 2007 version of the Sentencing Guidelines reflected the drive toward stiffer penalties for white-collar offenders. (Henning, 2008, 502)Despite the emphasis on stiffer sentences for white-collar offenders, recent developments in the US Supreme Court indicate that such a trend is unlikely to be cultivated.

For instance in US v Booker 543, 220 (2005) the US Supreme Court ruled that despite Federal Sentencing Guidelines. The impact that restorative justice has on an offender is the principal aim of any criminal justice system is to prevent and controlling offending.  The method in which it is conducted is conciliatory and to a certain degree a form of mediation.