Book Review: Too Big to Jail by Brandon L. Garrett

Dear Readers,

     My sincerest apologies. As I type this post I realize that it has been over a year since I last published anything on this blog. The winds of change have been passing through my life this year, and I was quite consumed with a myriad of tasks (primarily schoolwork).
     Despite the busy and occasionally hectic nature of my life, I have not forsaken Reading Soup, rest assured. As summer commenced and my daily routine became a little more relaxed, I had the opportunity to---finally---read for pleasure. And what better way to kick of my literary adventures of the summer than with a book discussing the intricacies of corporate law?! (I kid.)
     In all seriousness though, this book was by no means at "the top" of my list of summer reads, but it is one that I had been intending to crack open for quite some time. I first purchased this book back in my junior year of high school (more than two years ago at this point), and I intended to use it for a research argument paper that I had to write for my English class. However, when I showed the book to my parents they were hesitant, and thinking that I would find the book to be dull and hard to comprehend, they suggested that I switch topics. At first I fought them, but as the project deadline approached I eventually settled, changing my topic to something that was of greater relevance to my 16-year-old self.
     In retrospect, I'm glad to have heeded my parents advice (they're probably rejoicing as I type that). To this day, I truly don't know what made a high-schooler such as myself want to pick up a book with such a seemingly dull premise, and I honestly don't think I would have comprehended much of the language and topics in the book had I read them during that time of my life.
     Officially titled, Too Big to Jail: How Prosecutors Compromise with Corporations, this beast of a book discusses all the shortcomings and intricacies of corporate law, primarily within the context of the United States (What high-schooler in their right mind would want to read this?!---I know).
     Written by University of Virginia law professor Brandon L. Garrett, Too Big to Jail delves into several high profile and lesser known civil and criminal cases of corporate law prosecutions, while highlighting the negative precedents and consequences of such cases. Essentially, Garrett argues that legal battles between federal prosecutors and multinational corporations are a battle of David and Goliath, of sorts. Try though they may, there is little prosecutors can truly do to punish corporate giants, and oftentimes they must simply settle for a slap on the wrist, otherwise known as fines and the vague term of "structural reforms".
     Since corporations are comprised of a multitude of people rather than just one or two individuals, it is much harder to unearth the source of corruption within a company, and to find where the blame truly lies. What's more, punishing major corporations has a ripple effect, which can have lasting implications on the American and global economy.
     Overall, this book was a very dry read, although I did appreciate Garrett's underlying intent in writing it. I will come forth with this warning: unless you have some familiarity with basic legal terminology and economics, do not attempt to read this book. You will be thoroughly confused. Admittedly, the only way I managed to comprehend this read was through the little bits and pieces of information I was able to retain from my high school economics and American law classes. And even then, there were still portions of the book in which Garrett was simply relaying one meaningless fact and statistic after another and I had to take a break from reading.
     Although this book was at times boring and certainly isn't for everyone, there were some meaningful insights I took away from this read. The corrupt behavior of corporations in the United States so often gets overlooked, and even when it is addressed, barely anything is done to truly uproot the underlying causes of such unethical behavior. What stood out to me the most though was the mild punishments these corporations were given. Federal prosecutors often push this concept of promoting structural reforms as a way of combating future infractions. While it is unclear whether this is truly effective or not in the long run, in discussing this Garrett pointed to how ironic this phenomenon is in a country with one of the highest mass incarceration rates in the world, where individuals who conduct criminal behavior are simply met with punishment, rather than any opportunity for "reform" and "redemption" like corporations receive.
     By the end of the book, I certainly was left with an even greater understanding of how flawed the American justice system is. Garrett did not really offer any solutions for combating corporate corruption, or for reforming the judicial system, but I don't believe that was his intent in writing this book anyways. Rather, I believe he simply was trying to raise awareness for yet another form of injustice in the world. After all, injustices cannot be combated without first obtaining the knowledge necessary to defeat them.