Evening star., 1948-12-15
Businessmen FACING
Jail for Violations
OF Antitrust Law
Justice Department Bors
PIeos Of No Contest
In Importont Cases
By David Laurence


." Businessmen who violate the
antitrust laws are in greater dam
ger Of going to jail as a penalty
for their misdeeds than at any time
in the history of the Sherman Anti
trust Law.
~ Attorney General Clark announces
that hereafter the Justice Depart
ment will no longer accept no
contest" or what is known as "nolo
contendere" pleas on the part of
-cbuSinesS in important cases and
that instead there will be insistence
on Jail sentences in criminal cases.
Mr.. Clark revealed this in a copy
;righted interview in the current
issue Of United States News and
World Report" He did not say
what prompted the new policy, but
he did remark:
1--WE have found in the past that,
In paying fines, companies and as
sociations have drawn by lot, more
or less, as to who would pay the
~ fines"
Many Cases Settled.
The so-called mo contest" meth
cd is one in which the accused
company or its personnel do not
admit guilt but merely agree not
to contest the suit and hence pay
Whatever fine is required. Many
eases have been settled this way in
-recent years, though at times the
Justice Department has subsequent
-ly inferred that q mo contest" plea
was really confession of malprac-
"tice. >
20 Mr.. Clark was asked how he drew
the line between the filing Of GRIM
inal and civil suits under the anti
trust laws. He said:
- Where the evidence shows clearly
the parties involved have wilfully
violated the law, such as q revival
or continuation by them of prac-
.tices previously condemned by the
courts, or where 1t Is clear that the
parties knew that their action was
= unlawful-we bring o criminal ac-
:-tion.
"a We're not going to accept 'nolo
: contendere' pleas except in those
p, cases that are not aggravated. We
are very careful about our criminal
cases"
+" The Attorney General was asked If
businesses had an opportunity to
terminate an illegal practice be-
fore q criminal suit Is instituted. His
81. reply was:
. IF upon investigation we found
that the violations were then present,
we would not give them an oppor-
tunity. If we investigated a case
today and found that q year ago or
six months ago they had been en-
gagged in o practice that was illegal,
s'but had abandoned 1t, we would
probably not take criminal action.
, But II we found the violation
presently recurring we possibly
would go ahead, the idea being that
If you didn't do so it would just
license them to carry on violations
Of the statute"
Mr.. Clark said he felt that Amert-
-can businessmen knew their limi-
eta ions under the antitrust laws and
primarily that they cannot fix prices
by agreement with their competitors.
He added that an agreement could
lust as we'll be one to reduce as to
increase prices, the infraction being
ITO consult competitors for any pur-
); pose of agreeing on prices.
Latch String Is Out.
20 The Attorney General said the
latch string was out at the Justice
Department to companies or their
counsel to discuss their problems
related to the antitrust laws. He
said clearance" when given is for
future action only and that If there
; are violations Of the clearance" un-
derstanding, prosecutions could fol-
!. low.
- The Attorney General indicated
that from 40 to so per cent Of the
100 largest companies in the country
have been or are now involved in
antitrust actions Of some kind. He
> stated that most Of the complaints
originate among business competi-
tors and that only rarely has the de-
.partment itself initiated antitrust
:, proceedings. He feels that COM
..paries are pretty well advised by
counsel of what the courts have
ruled in antitrust decisions and
that there certainly ought not to be
any doubt as to the area in which
= criminal actions can be brought.
- There are certain undetermined
areas where civil actions are brought.
Thus, Mr.. Clark said the DEPART
ment Is at present working on some
cases in what is known as price
leadership where large business
II posts its price and others follow. He
remarked:
,"- Sometimes it Is something other
than Just leadership. 1t is natural
for businessmen to meet in clubs
or associations, and frequently,
though they may not realize it, they
eventually are agreeing on prices"
fRanrodurtion Piohts PessrvAdl