Are executives ever held criminally responsible for their actions?
This company head has been sentenced to 28 years jail. Another executive at the company faces a likely 20 year sentence. A lower level employee faces a likely 8-10 year sentence.
The crime involved a long term practice of deliberately shipping peanuts known to be contaminated with salmonella and produced in grossly unsanitary conditions, which finally restored in an outbreak, 9 deaths, and a recall of all production since 2007.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/a-life-sentence-for-shipping-tainted-peanuts-victims-families-say-yes/2015/09/19/e844a314-5bf1-11e5-8e9e-dce8a2a2a679_story.html
I don't really care about this peanut seller. Here is my real question: should we demand severe jail sentences like this for more corporate crimes? How to decide when you just get sued and face bankruptcy, and when you go to jail for 20-30 years?. Should we require a certain number of deaths, or should we jail people who cause financial harm (e.g. subprime crisis) or environmental damage (e.g. toxic waste dumping). Should we require many years of deliberate illegal actions, or would one intentional crime be enough?