Regulatory Failure

These Washington Post and New York Times editorials outline a brief history of the crimes of the Peanut Corporation of America and proposed legislation to improve food safety. While these bills would be step in the right direction, they do not go far enough. Funding for the Food and Drug Administration must be increased significantly. Corporations must come to realize that failure to comply will end up costing them more. Civil laws must be changed so that corporations cannot avoid accountability by filing for bankruptcy. State and local prosecutors much also change their outlook when it comes to investigation and prosecution. As this case clearly shows, white-collar crime is violent crime and should be treated as such.