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Comment by 55555 | Hacker News Reader

> On July 1, Democratic members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee called on Theranos to explain how its “policies permitted systematic violations of federal law” and how it is “working with regulators to address these failures.”

How come when I systematically violate federal law regulators seem less willing to work with me to address these failures? Companies are not that big and mystifying. They are just made up of people and should be held accountable. Elizabeth committed felonies and some people almost certainly died as a result.

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>Companies are not that big and mystifying. They are just made up of people and should be held accountable. Elizabeth committed felonies and some people almost certainly died as a result.

Sending people to prison for crimes they commit while being executives - imagine prison overcrowding if US do the same as Iceland - the country of 300K sent 29 bankers to prison as result of 2008 crisis. US is 1000 times bigger.

That's your argument? There are too many corporate crooks so we shouldn't bother applying the law to them? Not even the most egregious ones?

Why bother having a justice system in the first place? Hell, why bother having a society at all...

It is not my argument, it is my dream.

Well, I upvoted you for honesty (although not, presumably, for future honesty).

Prisons are a for-profit industry, and filling prisons with people gets votes. There is absolutely no way that the DOJ is thinking, “I’d like to send these people to jail, but alas, there are aren’t enough jail cells.”

The sad answer is simply that prisons are a kind of security theatre. For that theatre to work, you have to appear to be imprisoning people that voters emotionally identify as threats,

Locking up street criminals, people of colour, and so forth fits in a world where the media and ruling politicians demonize them at every turn.

Locking up business executives doesn’t.

Yes, security theater...except coincidentally as we in the US massively ramped up our rate of imprisonment. our crime rate went drastically down. For those who don't remember the 70s and 80s it is understandable to wonder why so many people are in jail when there is so little crime. Oddly, removing criminals from society lowers crime in society

I do remember the 70s and 80s, and I also bothered to take enough of an interest in criminal justice to know that crime subsequently decreased in both the US and in Canada, without the rampant increase in incarceration in Canada, or anywhere else.

Oddly, repeating the sound-bites issued by "law and order" politicians does not magically persuade those of us who live outside of the conservative talk radio bubble.

See, I was going to respond to your good point in a thoughtful manner, except you had to follow up with a personal attack. This is why people with different political views can't have reasoned discussion.

You will never be as funny as Groucho.

There would be a boom in private prisons with golf courses attached.

She should be held accountable, but should not go to prison: prisons should not exist.

Why should prisons not exist? Also, how then do you suggest to hold her accountable?

I live in States long enough to assume that when you put on the board team similar to the one Holmes did, all of sudden you are not investigated, RAIDed, thrown in jail without bond and found guilty for fraud and put behind bars for 25+ years. All of sudden, a House Committee of Commerce have the time and willingness to ask you politely a few questions...

Corrupted capitalism at its best!

CMMS just slapped Theranos hard. A federal investigation is underway and the SEC is also investigating. I personally do not think Holmes will escape jail time.

In other words, she's at home tonight, safe and warm. The parent post's point was that as an individual one would most certainly be in jail, at least for the night.

Thank you.

Absolutely you won't see her in jail, ever.

Come to live in America for few years.. watch some politics you will learn how they do it.

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