that the American public holds misconceptions about the seriousness of white-collar crimes. “The costs to society of white-collar crime are immense, but people don’t feel them directly,” she said. “How safe they feel in their homes, where they can walk at night, these are the issues people feel. They are tangible.” As the BBC piece further outlines, “The FBI estimates that white-collar crimes cost the U.S. economy more than $350 billion per year and can have serious impacts on people’s lives. When companies or individuals illegally avoid paying taxes, there is less money for public services such as schools and infrastructure. In the U.S., white-collar crime also increases the cost of healthcare. The FBI predicts that ‘losses due to fraudulent activity approached 10% of the amount of money that we expend in healthcare.’ While Ms. Weatherby notes that some high-profile white-collar criminal cases have caught the attention of the American public, such as the Enron scandal, she suggests people have short memories, and any outrage quickly dies down. Weatherby adds that society romanticizes white-collar criminals and the money and power they often accrue, which affects the treatment they receive. She also told the BBC that white-collar criminals are conceptualized as the American Dream gone wrong, not as doing something intentionally illegal.” One major cause of Americans’ apathy toward elite lawlessness and impunity is that, before our current era, such abuses were largely carried out behind the scenes by people intelligent enough to conceal their most egregious abuses. Prior to this era, we had extraordinarily wealthy people who, at a minimum, understood the give-and-take that must be conducted with a restless public. However, particularly over the past decade, America’s elite have adopted a different posture, one marked by defiance and the belief that they owe absolutely nothing to the society that enabled them to accumulate such enormous wealth. Their behavior has heightened the contradictions within our system and has made even ostensibly apolitical citizens aware that the rule of law, when one has enough money and power, can be manipulated to one’s own ends. Ultimately, few conditions herald societal decay more than a collective loss of trust in the legal system and shared belief that the law applies only to some. Practitioners of the law need to be fully aware that this is an existential fight for the foundations of our legal system, not a high-minded philosophical discussion. There is a group of extremely wealthy, powerful people in this country who feel they are quite literally above the law, and if that isn’t rectified, then no theoretical defense of our legal system will matter. If the most powerful people in a society are allowed to run roughshod and commit crimes with impunity, that society has more in common with an organized crime syndicate than it does a democracy with a just legal system. Increasingly, extremely powerful people are getting away with crimes beyond the financial realm and committing even darker abuses of the law. We have many intelligent, decorated legal professionals in this country, and it is crucial that they realize that some of the most powerful figures in society view the law not as a high-minded pursuit of philosophical virtue, but as something to be manipulated when convenient or discarded when not. If the legal community can unite with an increasingly informed and impassioned citizenry, we will be better positioned to defend our legal system and protect its promise of justice for all. NMBA’S MARK ANDERSON RECEIVES STATEWIDE WRITING AWARD Mark Anderson, legal and legislative assistant for the NMBA, was recently awarded first place in the “Writing — Editorial/Op-Ed” category of the New Mexico Press Women’s 2026 Professional Communications Contest. His winning column, “NAFTA and Its Enduring Legacy,” originally appeared in 2025 Pub. 22 Issue 2 of New Mexico Bankers Digest. The statewide contest, judged by accomplished female journalists, is held each spring. Mark’s column is now eligible for the National Federation of Press Women (NFPW)’s 2026 National Communications Contest. The results of that contest will be announced at the NFPW’s National Communications Conference Award Banquet on September 26 in Ellicott City, Maryland. Scan the QR code to read Mark’s award-winning column. https://new-mexicobankers-digest.thenewslinkgroup.org/ nafta-and-its-enduring-legacy/ 11
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTg3NDExNQ==