Book Review: Frost, N. A. (2006). The Punitive State: Crime, Punishment, and Imprisonment Across the United States. New York: LFB Scholarly. xi, 267 pp

• DOI: 10.1177/0734016808328811
• Author: Nick Harpster
• Published date: 01 June 2009
• Date: 01 June 2009
• Subject Matter: Articles

282 Criminal Justice Review
monitor and report the activities of their employees to ensure compliance and to demon-
strate adequate cooperation to reduce their financial penalties and avoid indictments,
require corporations to breach their ethical obligations to (a) respect employee privacy, (b)
maintain employee confidentiality, and (c) not compromise employee/employer trust.
Hasnas concludes by suggesting corporate criminal liability be eliminated, and that we
abandon all attempts at enforcing laws against white-collar crime. The author’s contention
that “the proper solution may lie in abstaining from any efforts at criminal enforcement at
all” (p. 96) is a suggestion that does not sit very well. The author marginally gets away with
this proposal because of the way he narrowly defines white-collar crime as neither harmful
nor an intrusion on individual rights, an assertion that represents one of the more problem-
atic aspects of this book.
Although the initial premise of the book was promising in the hope that it would provide
insight on ethical behavior and how at times it is at odds with the law, there is really noth-
ing to learn about acting ethically. Instead, this book is little more than a libertarian call for
less governmental interference in corporate activities, regardless of the legality of those
activities. Although this book at times presents interesting ideas and arguments, in the end,
the books does little to evoke any outrage, empathy, or even mild concern for the effect of
such laws on corporations. The book does create considerable anxiety as to how these stat-
utes work to leave the individual employee relatively unprotected from federal prosecution.
Unfortunately, the individual is not the primary concern of the author and is thus given
little attention.
Michael Costelloe
Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff
Frost, N. A. (2006). The Punitive State: Crime, Punishment, and Imprisonment Across the
United States. New York: LFB...