Saturday, October 2, 2010

“Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps”: What does it tell us about how we feel about White Collar Crime?

For those who recently saw Wall Street 2...via Zealous Advocacy.
But “Money Never Sleeps” offers a fascinating portrayal of how we as a nation in the midst of The Great Recession treat white collar criminals. Roughly speaking, white collar crime has come to mean financial crimes. In this economic environment, white collar criminals are hated more than just about any other type of criminal. About a year ago, I was doing an oral argument before the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. My client was convicted of operating a Ponzi scheme. It quickly became apparent to me from the tone of the three-judge panel, that it would have been better if my client were a serial killer.
Arguably, the injury suffered by victims of financial crimes is every bit as serious as those suffered by victims of any violent crime. But what “Money Never Sleeps” shows is that the perpetrators of what we think are economic crmes — or who do the deals which fall apart and create economic havoc — really don’t set out to commit crmes per se; they just wanted to enrich their own already lavish lifestyle.

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