Federal legislation requires DOJ to publish information on certain law enforcement actions

Bicameral legislation recently introduced in the U.S. Congress would require the Department of Justice (DOJ) to collect, aggregate, analyze, and publish comprehensive data on federal corporate criminal enforcement actions.

The Corporate Crime Database Act would require the director of the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) DOJ to publish a database of corporate criminal enforcement actions on the BJS website and establish guidelines for the collection and submission of information for federal agencies that carry out such enforcement actions. In addition, an annual report to Congress would be required.

The report would need to include a description and analysis of the data collected, an estimate of the impact of corporate offenses on victims and the public, and recommendations for legislative or administrative actions to improve agencies’ ability to monitor, respond to, and deter instances of corporate offenses.

“While the Department of Justice regularly collects data on nearly every type of street-level crime, there is very little reporting of corporate and white-collar crimes, with the last thorough DOJ report on corporate crime being in 1979,” U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA), who introduced the bill, said. “Without data or transparency, lawmakers, journalists, and the public are left in the dark about the size and scope of corporate crime in America and the effectiveness of the federal government’s response.”