Duncan Levin has published a new essay in Columbia Law School’s Blue Sky Blog titled “In Criminal Justice, Companies Get a Roadmap, While People Get a Maze.”
The article examines an important imbalance in modern criminal justice: the Department of Justice has developed increasingly detailed policies for corporate defendants, including guidance around voluntary disclosure, cooperation credit, remediation, monitorships, declinations, and collateral consequences. These policies give companies and their counsel a clearer understanding of how prosecutorial discretion may be exercised and what steps may affect charging decisions or resolutions.
By contrast, individual defendants often face a far less transparent system. Decisions about charging, cooperation, plea offers, sentencing exposure, and the practical consequences of prosecution frequently remain opaque, highly discretionary, and difficult to navigate. Levin argues that DOJ has already shown it can build a more structured, pragmatic, and transparent framework when the defendant is a company — and that the same seriousness should apply when the defendant is a person and individual liberty is at stake.
Read the article here.