Punishing the Swindler: Sentencing White-Collar Criminals

Sentencing for white-collar criminals remains unsatisfactory and inequitable when compared to sentencing for their blue-collar counterparts. Although there are many distinctions between the two types of defendants, namely their socioeconomic statuses and backgrounds, two major problems—judicial leniency and the loss table calculation—within the current sentencing regime add to these sentencing disparities. This Note argues that it is not the Sentencing Guidelines that need to be changed, but the context of their application. This Note suggests introducing a new bench of judges with experience handling white-collar cases, either in their careers as lawyers or since they ascended to the bench. This would theoretically assist judges in avoiding the typical pitfalls and biases that may contribute to shorter white-collar sentences. Although this solution may prove difficult for numerous reasons—the difficulties of categorizing white-collar crimes and the potential to further stigmatize and isolate blue-collar criminals, for example—the current sentencing regime needs reform, and a new white-collar bench could be the very thing needed to properly enact this change.