Why Dissolving Rogue Corporations Could Become a Powerful Anti-Corruption Tool
The piece advocates reviving judicial dissolution, or the corporate death penalty, as a deterrent against abusive and polluting firms.
The author champions the revival of judicial dissolution—commonly dubbed the corporate death penalty—as a legal means to eliminate companies that cause severe environmental harm or systemic fraud. Though the mechanism dates back to at least the 1800s, it has been applied only in rare instances, such as the 1890 court-ordered dissolution of North River Sugar Refining and the 2002 forced shutdown of Arthur Andersen after its role in the Enron scandal.
Recent calls have aimed at firms like Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, Equifax, the NRA, and newer threats like Flock Safety’s surveillance devices and Amazon’s planned AI data-center power plant. The article also references a hypothetical scenario involving Donald Trump’s businesses. Scholar John F. Hulpke is cited as supporting the idea that society should consider all available weapons, including corporate dissolution, to curb corruption.
Why it matters
It highlights a legal lever that could force corporations to prioritize people and the planet over profit.
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