WITHDRAWN (Amendment 53 -- Criminal Accountability of Business Executives)

WTITHDRAWN - Will appear on ballot, but votes won't count.

Currently businesses may be found guilty of illegal conduct or of not performing required duties and individuals may be prosecuted for illegal conduct, but this ballot measure would extend criminal liability to business executives who are aware of a legal duty that the business has failed to perform. If an executive becomes aware of his or her business’s criminal conduct prior to charges being filed, disclosure to the attorney general of all facts may be used as a defense to criminal charges.

STATUTORY Change

Recommendation: lean yes
Part of the responsibility of being a business executive or a board member of an organization (even as a volunteer) is knowing the applicable rules and following them. Whistleblowers have been harassed in our society for doing the public good. Instead we should encourage everyone, especially those at the top levels, to be whistleblowers. I think this amendment lacks a clause allowing business executives 3 months to learn and understand the rules before being liable for criminal conduct, but since this is a proposed statutory change, the general assembly could modify the law.


Website for Yes side (Protect Colorado’s Future)
No initiative-specific website found, but some info at website below.
http://www.protectcoloradosfuture.org/

Website for No side (Coloradans for Responsible Reform)
http://www.nopoisonpills.com/


Amendment 53 (Approved ballot title below)

Criminal Accountability of Business Executives

Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado Revised Statutes extending the criminal liability of a business entity to its executive officials for the entity's failure to perform a specific duty imposed by law, and, in connection therewith, conditioning an executive official's liability upon his or her knowledge of the duty imposed by law and of the business entity's failure to perform such duty; and allowing an executive official who discloses to the attorney general all facts known to the official concerning a business's criminal conduct to use that disclosure as an affirmative defense to criminal charges?

Yes ________________ No ________________


To see the full text of the proposed measure, click here, then click on “2008 State Ballot Information Booklet” at the top of the page.