Criminal sanctions under state and federal antitrust laws

Perhaps the most violently debated issue in the law of antitrust remedies is whether criminal sanctions should be imposed. Some have made impassioned pleas for a crusade against criminal sanctions as abettors of "communism";1 others have complained that private business interests in the United States regularly violate the antitrust laws with the impunity of hardened criminals.2 Although several studies have considered the desirability of criminal antitrust sanctions,3 certain myths and presumptions have often prevented an intelligent examination of the use of criminal sanctions in this field. This article will first examine the history and use of state and federal criminal antitrust sanctions; it then will discuss the myths and presumptions that have grown up around this most controversial of antitrust remedies and will suggest an appropriate role for criminal sanctions in the enforcement of federal and state antitrust laws.