• WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    The size of the fine is irrelevant. What matters is the fine being proportionally punitive that it deters similar actions, instead of being viewed as another overhead and the cost of doing business.

    If you steal a car, sell it and make 10k, the cops don’t fine you 5k. They take the whole lot and more. If they only took 5k, then the cops are operating more like a coconspirator in the racketeering; taking their cut of a profitable crime, that is guaranteed to be repeated.

    A corporation will factor in the cost of legal fees + settlement, plus the probability of any action taken against them in the first place. So if they’re only investigated 1% of the time, the fine for a crime should be multiplied 100x whatever profit they made, at the very least.