Shaming white-collar criminals: A proposal for reform of the federal sentencing guidelines

From stigmatizing publicity to coerced gestures of public contrition to rit ualized debasement ceremonies, shaming penalties are on the rise in America n law. This paper considers the feasibility and value of such penalties for federal white-collar offenders. It develops a theoretical model that conne cts the deterrent efficacy of such penalties to their power to signal the u ndesirable propensities of wrongdoers and the desirable propensities of cit izens who shun wrongdoers. It also considers how the efficiency of such pen alties is affected by their power to express publicly valued social meaning s. Finally, it examines practical issues relating to the incorporation of s haming penalties into the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.