Last time the public was tuned in, the Justice Department was vigorously prosecuting corporate giants such as Enron for massive frauds committed during the waning days of the stock bubble. Assisted by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, government lawyers were racking up victories in the battle against white-collar crime. One recent highlight was the October sentencing of former Enron chief executive Jeffrey Skilling to 24 years in prison.

Now that the public’s attention has shifted to matters such as Iraq, however, corporate America has launched a counterattack. Its goal is to derail the Justice Department’s efforts to maintain a heightened level of white-collar criminal enforcement. Its success thus far starkly illustrates how power and money influence our criminal justice system.

[1] washingtonposts.com: Corporate America Fights Back