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Comment by dh2022 | Hacker News Reader

dh2022

well, whoever would make this type of "executive decision" should be prepared to go to jail for a really long time next to really violent bad people. Multinational execs did not show propensity for these types of decisions (the propensity at C-Suite is to pay a fine and move on....) So prior knowledge makes me think these are accidents.

It would be really good to get as much information about these deaths (and closure for the families)

PS. for arguments sake, if another Boeing whistleblower would get a sudden disease I would be more inclined to think that maybe there is some chemical/mechanical exposure in the Boeing / Spirit factories rather then some Michael Clayton-type action...

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When is the last time someone from the C suite and had a good relationship to the government/defense sector went to big boy jail? I can’t think of an occasion, even though I can think of many deadly events where it’s very well arguable there should be criminal liability

Generally any white collar criminal does not need to go to "big boy jail," and I'm not sure why that needs to be a thing. Is this like joking about prison rape, where we just assume that the consequences of being incarcerated aren't enough, and we need "Bubba" to add a little "extra" because we're not as civilized as we believe we are?

Either way, rest assured that in the real world, a hypothetical executive who was convicted of ordering a hit would end up being treated the exact same way as a mafioso who did the same.

> Generally any white collar criminal does not need to go to "big boy jail"

Why not? Are they special because they hurt people indirectly instead of directly?

> a hypothetical executive who was convicted of ordering a hit

Well, there's the rub. They would have to be convicted. How often are executives held accountable for anything their company does?

You seem to be reading something into my wording there that I didn’t intend. I meant proper jail, not a fine, not a suspended sentence or one of the cushy prisons financial criminals tend to go to. I mean the same jail as a non-rich murderer, for example. No “ don’t drop the soap” tropes implied. Those piss me off too.

But yeah, white color crime that for example kills people (deadly pollution for example) should absolutely be treated like murder, or manslaughter at the very least. Why the hell not?

> a hypothetical executive who was convicted of ordering a hit would end up being treated the exact same way

Sure, but the point is they'll never be convicted.

I see two different instinctual kneejerks here from HN. One, that this person's death must be a conspiracy, and two, that there is never accountability about any of these things. I understand why that is intuitive, but I think it betrays an understanding of the world that is closer to a movie-plot rather than reality(which is slow and boring and doesn't always result in satisfying "justice" delivered).

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