Reading Comprehension

PT158 · S1 · P4 · Q24 Criminal Sanctions

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The use of criminal sanctions against corporations is well established, but the practice has recently come under fire from legal theorists who maintain that corporations should be held civilly rather than criminally liable for wrongdoing.

Written Summary below video summary

Topic

Criminal vs. civil sanctions for corporate misdoings (as well as criminal sanctions against the corporation vs. against individuals within it)

Framework

Challenge a Position (she challenges two different positions)

Main Point

Criminal is better than civil, and criminally sanctioning corporations is better than criminally sanctioning individuals at those corporations.

Summary

P1 - Opposing Position #1 (let's use civil, not criminal sanctions)

We get our first Purpose Pivot (but, yet, however, recently) in the 2nd half of the first sentence. This sets the stage for the main topic: should we go after corporate wrongdoing with criminal or civil sanctions?

These legal theorists "maintain / argue / claim" a series of points: Point 1. Furthermore, Point 2. Finally, Point 3.

P2 - Author Challenges that Position (criminal is better)

Since the first paragraph stayed in the voice of the legal theorists, we would anticipate a new view in the 2nd paragraph, and the however tells us that the author is talking now. The author affirms that criminal is the better choice since it's a stronger deterrent, it's more feasible to actually bring a suit to court, and the moral condemnation we want to achieve is better expressed through criminal law.

P3 - Opposing Position #2 (lets do criminal sanctions against individuals, not against the corporation)

These other legal theorists "argue / they maintain / they say" that going after individuals would have a bigger deterrent effect and wouldn't have the risk of harming "innocent bystanders", like shareholders / creditors / employees / consumers, that would come with going after the corporations themselves.

P4 - Author Challenges Position #2 (better to do it against corporation)

Again, a however in the first sentence indicates to us that we're switching back to the Author's Voice. She thinks that targeting corporations is better because it's easier to prosecute a company for wrongdoing than to pin blame on individual employees, and the potential damage that criminal sanctions vs. a corporation can do to that corporation also has a deterrent effect on shareholders and employees.

Going after individuals deters the few wrongdoers from doing bad, but going after corporations means that the whole corporate culture will be motivated to stay on the good path. The author acknowledges that there can be some harmful byproducts of this path but reassures us that they are outweighed by the positives.

24.

Which one of the following does the author of the passage assert to be true?

  1. Civil liability is better able

    Not the Author

    The theorists in the first paragraph make this claim, but the author doesn't assert that it's true. "They claim" that civil is better able to determine damages than criminal.

    6% picked this

  2. Employees are just as likely

    Too Strong

    Nothing in the passage gets as extreme as saying, "employees have an identical likelihood of being harmed, whether it's civil or criminal sanctions".

    7% picked this

  3. Deterrence is the main aim

    Too Strong

    Nothing in the passage ever states that the #1 goal of criminal and civil liability is deterrence. The first paragraph establishes that both types of liability "aim at deterrence", but nothing says it is their primary aim.

    18% picked this

  4. Individuals within corporations are more

    Not the Author

    In the 3rd paragraph, other legal theorists say this. "They maintain ..." this claim, but the author never asserts that it's true.

    9% picked this

  5. Correct

    Private civil litigation against a

    Why this is right

    This is said in the middle of the 2nd paragraph.

    Skill tested: Locate Detail · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.

    59% picked this

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