News & Insights

Jack Sharman and Bridget Harris Author Bloomberg Law Insight Article on the ‘Perp Walk’ in White-Collar Prosecutions

February 13, 2019

By: Jackson R. Sharman III and Bridget E. Harris

Lightfoot, Franklin & White LLC partner Jack Sharman and associate Bridget Harris recently co-authored an article published by Bloomberg Law.

The Bloomberg “Insight” piece titled “Roger Stone, the Perp Walk, and Shame’s Role in White-Collar Cases” examines the use of perp walks by enforcement agencies and what lawyers can do to protect clients from being paraded in front of the media.

They wrote the article in light of the recent arrest of Roger Stone, a longtime adviser to President Donald Trump. Stone was taken into custody after an indictment was unsealed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

“Prosecutors often argue that perp walks are appropriate because they ‘send a message’ that white-collar offenders are treated the same as any other offender. The government claims that an executive in handcuffs has a bracing effect on other businesspeople and will deter wrongdoing,” write Sharman and Harris. “The media-consuming American public has a certain schadenfreude about perp walks. They are sure to continue.”

Sharman and Harris are both members of Lightfoot’s White-Collar Criminal Defense and Corporate Investigations practice.

Sharman has practiced law for more than 30 years and was the former special counsel to the House Banking Committee during its Whitewater investigation of President Bill Clinton in the 1990s. In 2016, he was appointed as special counsel to the Alabama House Judiciary Committee for the impeachment investigation of former Alabama Governor Robert Bentley.

Harris focuses her practice on product liability, catastrophic injury, and white-collar criminal defense and corporate investigations. She is actively involved with DRI and serves on Lightfoot’s Diversity Committee.