State of Indiana V. Ford Motor Company revisited

In 1980, a jury returned “not guilty” verdicts on three counts of reckless homicide against the Ford Motor Company. The company was indicted when three girls were killed after their Ford Pinto burst into flames following a rear impact collision. This paper re-examines the consequences of this landmark case involving corporate wrongdoing from the perspectives of the participants 20 years later. Interviews were conducted with 22 individuals directly involved with the litigation, as well as with insightful observers and experts. The lasting impact of this case is demonstrated through its influence on the development of corporate liability, even though the company was found “not guilty.”     

Does Capital Punishment Have a Deterrent Effect? New Evidence from Postmoratorium Panel Data

Evidence on the deterrent effect of capital punishment is importantfor many states that are currently reconsidering their positionon the issue. We examine the deterrent hypothesis by using county-level,postmoratorium panel data and a system of simultaneous equations.The procedure we employ overcomes common aggregation problems,eliminates the bias arising from unobserved heterogeneity, andprovides evidence relevant for current conditions. Our resultssuggest that capital punishment has a strong deterrent effect;each execution results, on average, in eighteen fewer murders—witha margin of error of plus or minus ten. Tests show that resultsare not driven by tougher sentencing laws and are robust tomany alternative specifications.