San Jose State University
College of Applied Sciences and Arts
Justice Studies Department
JS 135 -- White Collar Crime
Fall Semester 2008
Instructor: David Callaway Office Hours: Tuesday 8:45 to 10:00 p.m.
Office: MacQuarrie Hall 521 Cell Phone: (415) 308-7977
E-mail: SJSUDavidCallaway@gmail.com Class Mtgs: Tues. 6:00-8:45 p.m., MH 523
You may also find this syllabus and class handouts on my website, www.SJSUwhitecollarcrime-drc.blogspot.com
Course Description
The course catalog reads: "Growth and development of white collar crime in the United States: crimes at the workplace, computer fraud, swindles, embezzlement, bribery and graft at the corporate and governmental levels."
We will be focusing on some of the most interesting crimes that are being committed, many of them in right here in your own back yard, including corporate fraud, securities fraud (including revenue recognition fraud, stock options backdating, and insider trading), trade secret theft, consumer fraud, environmental crime, tax evasion, as well as bribery, embezzlement, and mail and wire fraud committed by individuals. Although I am not sure this qualifies as a "Course Learning Objective," my hope is that you will come to see this area as far more fascinating than so-called "street" crime: anyone can rob a bank (although I wouldn't recommend it); the real challenge is to be able to buy a bank and turn it into your own personal ATM machine. We will explore the nature of white collar crime inductively, by looking at examples of the countless and myriad ways people have devised over the years to cheat one another. The focus of this course will be on the crimes themselves, the criminals who commit them, and how prosecutors and investigators go after them and defense lawyers defend them.
Course Learning Objectives
By the end of the semester students should know what "white collar" crime is, how it differs from other types of crime, and they (meaning, in this case, "you") should be able to discuss intelligently the characteristics that make this form of crime unique: the kinds of criminals who commit it, the means by which they do so, and how they are prosecuted and defended in court.
Required Texts/Other Readings
Textbooks:
Rosoff, S., Pontell, H., and Tillman, R., Profit Without Honor: White Collar Crime and the Looting of America, Prentice Hall, 4th ed. (2006) (abbreviated in the syllabus as "PWH").
Johnston, D., Perfectly Legal: The Secret Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super Rich – and Cheat Everyone Else, Portfolio Trade (2005) (ordered from the SJSU Bookstore, but also available in paperback from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online sites for around ten bucks), ISBN 13: 9781591840695.
Additional Reading: There will be additional readings that I will announce at least one class period before they are due. (Many are already embedded in the course syllabus.) All additionally-assigned readings will be available on-line. Links to many of them will be found at the excellent White Collar Crime Prof Blog (abbreviated in the syllabus as "WCC Prof Blog"): http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/whitecollarcrime_blog/ Students who miss a class are responsible for obtaining the assignments from another student or from my website.
Prerequisites: Upper division standing or instructor consent
Course Requirements
Grades will be based on a combination of four short "pop" quizzes (total value: 20%), a term paper (30%), final exam (40%), and class participation (10%). The quizzes will consist of a single question based on the previous week's class and will call for a one-page answer. The final exam will include both multiple choice and essay questions.
The highest grade possible will be an A+. Plus and minus grades will be given for every grade down to a D -. 90% and higher will be an A (with plus and minus grades as follows: 90-93 % = A-, 94-96 = A, 97 and up = A+). The same breakdown will apply to B (80-90%), C (70-80%), and D grades (60-70%). Less than 60% would be an F.
I will use the "modified Hungarian" method of curving the grades: that approach (the name of which I just made up) consists of treating the highest grade in the class as 100% and working down from there.
As you can see, class participation will form an important part of your grade. It will be difficult to obtain an "A" without at least some credit for class participation. Woody Allen famously said that "eighty-five percent of life is just showing up." Class participation, though, consists of more than that. It means showing up, staying through the end of class (I expect to call the roll after the break for at least half the classes), and . . . actually participating in a meaningful way: reading the materials ahead of time; having something worthwhile to say.
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Information Regarding Term Paper
Length and Format: minimum eight pages, typed and double-spaced using twelve-point font. No maximum, but please be aware that "longer" is not necessarily "better." You can write eight pages and get an A, or vomit out 20 pages and get an F. As for format, use either MLA or APA. I don't care which, as long as you are consistent.
Topic: discuss a significant white collar case. Examples (by no means exclusive): Ivan Boesky; Michael Milken; Charles Keating; Qwest; Adelphia; Worldcom; Enron; Tycho; Martha Stewart; former San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales. Describe the background of the perpetrator(s), the nature of the crime, the victims, the losses, the prosecution, defense, and trial (if there was a trial) and whether you believe that, ultimately, justice was done.
Due Date: November 11, 2008
Grading: the term paper will be worth 40% of your grade, equal to the final exam. Grading will be based on my evaluation of the following:
(1) Knowledge: does your paper demonstrate knowledge and understanding of your chosen topic?
(2) Quality of Writing and Analysis: do you have a clear thesis? Are the facts and sources well-organized? Is your conclusion supported by the analysis?
(3) Quality of Sources: does your work reflect time spent on research? (Hint: citations to Wikipedia don't count.) Are your sources worthy, balanced, and fair?
(4) Originality: this is obviously the most subjective category, but I will give reward students who obviously put some real time and effort into coming up with their topics, and didn't just take the easy out of grabbing something from the textbook and dressing it up a little.
Library Liaison
Your library liaison is Nyle Monday, telephone 808-2041. Nyle.Monday@sjsu.edu.
University Policies
Dropping and Adding
You are responsible for understanding the policies and procedures about add/drops, academic renewal, etc. found at http://sa.sjsu.edu/student_conduct. You should be aware of the new deadlines and penalties for adding and dropping classes.
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Academic Integrity
Students are expected to be familiar with the University's Academic Integrity Policy. Please review this at http://sa.sjsu.edu/student_conduct.
"Your own commitment to learning, as evidenced by your enrollment at San Jose State University and the University's integrity policy, require you to be honest in all your academic course work. Faculty members are required to report all infractions to the office of Student Conduct and Ethical development."
Instances of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. Cheating on exams or plagiarism (presenting the work of another as your own, or the use of another person's ideas without giving proper credit) will result in a failing grade and sanctions by the University. For this class, all assignments are to be completed by the individual student unless otherwise specified. If you would like to include in your assignment any material you have submitted, or plan to submit for another class, please note that SJSU's Academic Integrity policy F06-1 requires approval of instructors.
Accommodations
If you need course adaptations because of a disability, if you have emergency medical information to share with me, or if you need special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please make an appointment as soon as possible or see me during office hours. Presidential Directive 97-03 requires that students with disabilities register with the DRC (Disability Resource Center) to establish a record of their disability."www.drc.sjsu.edu
Special accommodations for exams require ample notice to the testing office and must be submitted to the instructor well in advance of the exam date.
Grievances
If you have questions regarding grading policies or any other aspect of the course, please make an appointment with me. For information about grievance policies/procedures, you can consult the university catalog, the Justice Studies department secretary for appointments with the department chairperson, or the University ombudsman.
SJSU Writing Center
As you can see, your success in this class will be heavily influenced by the quality of your writing. (As someone who works outside of academia, I can assure you that the same is true of your future success in almost any professional or business environment.) If you think that your writing skills could use improvement, you should be aware of the SJSU Writing Center and the services it offers. The center is staffed by professional instructors and upper-division or graduate-level writing specialists from each of the seven SJSU colleges. SJSU's writing specialists have met a rigorous GPA requirement and they are well trained to assist all students at all levels within all disciplines to become better writers.
Course Schedule (JS 135 Fall 2008)
(Note: subject to change with fair notice.)
Week | Date | Topics, Readings, Assignments, Deadlines |
1 | 8/26 | Syllabus and handouts; Student questionnaire; Introduction and Course Overview |
2 | 9/2 | Overview of federal white collar statutes: Conspiracy (18 U.S.C. 371); Mail and Wire Fraud (18 U.S.C. 1341 and 1343). Reading: January 22, 2008 entry in the WCC Prof Blog: http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/whitecollarcrime_blog/2008/01/honest-services.html, and also the opinion in United States v. Urciuoli (link provided at the bottom of that page, but also here): http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/whitecollarcrime_blog/files/us_v_urciuoli_first_circuit_opinion_jan_18_2008.pdf |
3 | 9/9 | Mortgage fraud. Guest speaker: loan broker Robert W. Callaway (no relation*) will discuss the sub-prime mortgage mess and how it came about. *unless you count your brother as a "relation" |
4 | 9/16 | Consumer fraud; telemarketing fraud; false advertising; PWH, Chapter 2, plus these articles on various scams: Canadian Lottery Scam: http://phoenix.about.com/cs/seniors/a/canadianlottery.htm; Chinese Inheritance Scam: http://sanfrancisco.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/2007/sf101607.htm and Nigerian Scam: |
5 | 9/23 | Computer crime, trade secret theft, and export enforcement; PWH Ch. 12; guest speakers: Matthew Parrella, Chief, Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property (CHIP) Unit for the U.S. Attorney's Office; Assistant United States Attorney Jeff Nedrow; and Stephen Adams, Senior Director, Global Litigation and Confidential Asset Management Group for Applied Materials, Inc.
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6 | 9/30 | Corporate and Securities fraud: revenue recognition, insider trading, and stock options backdating fraud; PWH Chapter 6. White Collar Crime Prof blog discusses restitution issue here: http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/whitecollarcrime_blog/2008/01/sentencing-reye.html See also SEC complaint against Gregory Reyes, et al. here: http://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2006/comp19768.pdf And Government's Sentencing Memorandum: and, to show I'm fair, defendant's sentencing memorandum is here: |
7 | 10/7 | Securities and corporate fraud continued (possible guest speaker) |
8 | 10/14 | United States Sentencing Guidelines; please review Chapter 1 (all); Chapter 2 (only Section 2B1.1, including all commentary); Chapter 3-5 (all). The Sentencing Guidelines are available here: http://www.ussc.gov/2007guid/tabcon07_1.htm. (From there you can download and read the individual subsections; section 2B1.1 sometimes loads slowly, so please be patient) |
9 | 10/21 | No class (Spring Break) (so you should have plenty of time to read everything assigned for next week, and get a jump on that term paper) |
10 | 10/28 | Crimes by government/Public Corruption: PWP Chapter 9. Also: read http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1004-30.htm and http://www.antiwar.com/engelhardt/?articleid=9851, for insights from former AUSA Elizabeth De la Vega on the Plame case; But, just to keep things bipartisan, let's take a look at how former President Bill Clinton abused his pardon power: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,99302,00.html |
11 | 11/4 | Public corruption; PWH Chapter 10; see also these articles regarding the 2006 indictment on (and ultimate dismissal of) bribery charges against former San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales: http://www.bayareanewsgroup.com/multimedia/mn/news/archive/norcal/mn_grandjury_norcal_2005.pdf (Civil Grand Jury Report); http://www.bayareanewsgroup.com/multimedia/mn/news/archive/norcal/norcal_gonzales_indictment_062206.pdf (criminal indictment); http://bayareanewsgroup.com/multimedia/mn/news/gonzales_courtruling_061307.pdf (court order dismissing indictment) |
12 | 11/11 | Fiduciary fraud: Crime in the banking, insurance, and pension fund industries; PWH Chapter 8. Term Papers Due |
13 | 11/18 | Tax evasion, tax avoidance, and plain old tax "planning." Johnston, Perfectly Legal (see Required Texts, above) |
14 | 11/25 | More on tax evasion; also money laundering; possible guest speaker; readings TBA |
15 | 12/2 | Health care fraud; PWH Chapter 11 |
16 | 12/9 | Overflow (TBA); Preview of final exam |
17 | 12/16 | Final Exam (1800 to 2015) |
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