A brief Review of Corruption

Table of Contents
Table of Contents……………………………………………………………2
Abstract………………………………………………………………………3
Introduction………………………………………………………………....4
Background………………………………………………………………….5
Research Methods ……………………………………………………....…..7
Interviews……………………………………………………………….……7
Results………………………………………………………………………..16
Discussion…………………………………………………………………….16
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………17
Work Cited…………………………………………………………………..18

Abstract My research paper will not be designed to solve a particular problem but instead to illuminate the enormity and insidious nature of ‘Corruption. Also to illustrate, by various examples how, trivial local issues of corruption are probably just r the tip of the iceberg.
In other words, the problem is identify and discuss examples of ‘Corruption’ of varying sizes, importance to the local community and nation, and the media exposure of each. To begin my research, I sought to get a clear workable definition of ‘Corruption’ as evidenced by the three almost distinct definitions presented in the text...The research also involved interviews of community members. The third phase of my research involved reading and investigating what newspaper’s reported on ‘Corruption’; what writers and scholars from academia recorded; and what I could gleam from magazines and other periodicals.
The Conclusions drawn are:
- The minority voting population is very immature and should grow up and stop voting for candidates of color just because of their color.
- Laws should be enacted to prevent convicted felons from running for public office.
- Corruption will always exist in governments, organizations, and institutions.
- A liberal education would help people understand and more readily recognize corruption.
Recommendations
The problem is so complex and wide spread that I do not have any specific recommendation. However, that is an organization that has a program that advocates mounting massive anti-corruption campaigns, mainly focused on awareness, transparency and exposure to curb corruption

Introduction In the mad chase for choosing a topic, I choose corruption thinking this single word would lead to simplistic findings and easy to record and thus easy to write a report. In stead, I found corruption to be very broad and complex issue with too many tentacles to follow. Therefore, I decided to shape my research paper on to illuminate the enormity and insidious nature of corruption and illustrate, by various examples how, what might seem as trivial local issues probably just represents the tip of the iceberg as it relates to the national or local community loss to the public in both human and financial resources. In other words, the problem is identify and discuss examples of corruption of varying sizes, importance to the local community and nation, and the media exposure of each size and type. By size I mean amount of money involved, number of people involved and whether it is local (small) or national (large). I propose that because corruption can be so innocuous those local authorities very seldom investigate of even attempt to prosecute suspicious acts of corruption because investigations are so expensive and time consuming. From a personal perspective, I think it is important because many crimes of this nature go unnoticed because the general public is not aware of their occurrences or the negative impact these acts can have on them as individuals and the communities in which they live. As a rare college student in my family, I will be able to share the information I gain through this research in a constructive cohesive manner to help my family and friends recognize ‘Corruption’ in its most innocent looking forms so they can avoid being a victim or unwitting participant or help investigators gather information if called upon.

Background To begin my research, I sought to get a clear workable definition of corruption as evidenced by the definitions below. I also made a list of the persons in our community that I would try to interview. They included: the former first Black Director of the Memphis Police Department; a former Attorney General of the State of Tennessee; and the spokes person for the Memphis police Department. The third phase of my research involved reading and investigating what newspaper’s reported on corruption what writers and scholars from academia recorded; and what I could gleam from magazines and other periodicals. According to USL Legal.Com, corruption in the legal context refers to a wrongful design to acquire or cause some pecuniary or other advantage. Corruption may encompass a variety of wrongful acts, such as, among others, bribes, kickbacks, jury tampering, and abuse of public office. (Legal Definitions Home, 2014) Also, findlaw.com/corruption, defines corruption as the means any abuse of a position of trust in order to gain an undue advantage. This involves the conduct of both sides: that of the person who abuses his position of trust as well as that of the person who seeks to gain an undue advantage by this abuse. Corruption can occur in relation to officials as well as between private persons. It is particularly prevalent in certain kinds of transactions for example, when awarding public contracts, in certain economic sectors for example, in extractive industries, and in certain countries. (Findlaw, 2014) The World Book Encyclopedia defines corruption as the act of making or the process of becoming evil or wicked and evil conduct and wickedness. The Encyclopedia adds five additional definitions to the term, corruption with the last being rot: decay. (Barnhart, 1966) I will offer one more definition of corruption! I offer these several definitions because each one implies some minute different nuances that that points to the insidious nature of corruption and the widespread use of the term. John E Conkin in his book, Criminology, discusses white-collar crime which includes crimes many of which are also considered to be instances of examples of corruption. He also discusses white-collar crime from a sociological perspective. He maintains that white-collar crime corruption is committed in the course of a legitimate occupation or pursuit by a corporation or by an otherwise respectable individual of high social standing. (Conklin, 2004) This definition introduces a relatively new perspective about the types of persons involved in corruption. From my perspective the added dimension is that these persons are respectable individuals of high social standing. These individuals may be of high social standing because they have lots of money that was gained illegally, usually from people who least could afford the financial loss. The worst part of this is that most victims of these individuals of high social standing are not even aware that they are indeed victims. White-collar crime often involves elaborate planning. On page 65, Mr. Conkin presents a table of Major Types of White-Collar Crime. I find this table very interesting and I will present a partial list of those crimes because they are not often considered by the general public until some person or media representative exposes it in a mass media presentation. The table is divided into four major categories and they include:
Crimes by Business– Deceptive advertising insider trading false valuation of assets mail and Wire fraud tax fraud bribery of political officials’ unsafe working conditions environmental law violations false weights and measures by retailers-Misrepresentation of credit terms. (Conklin, 2004)
Crimes by Employees against Business-Embezzlement and employee theft Expense account fraud by Government Employees -Bribes taking by police officers, bribes taking by political officials, and embezzlement by political officials. (Conklin, 2004)
Crimes by Professionals-Medical quackery health care fraud- Fraudulent damage claims by lawyers. (Conklin, 2004)
These definitions helped me get a ‘feel’ for the true meaning of corruption as it relates to criminal behavior in our communities organizations and institutions. They help explain why so many corrupt acts go undetected and unpunished but they certainly impact all of us throughout our organizations and institutions.
Resources and Methods Interviews As indicated earlier, I had planned three interviews. I contacted the former Chief of the Memphis Police department, Melvin Burgess. I asked his would he comment on one case involving corruption within the Memphis City Government. He said, “I was aware of rumors that were being circulated about certain individuals, but those kinds of things are usually formally investigated by the Tennessee Federal Bureau of Investigation. I was never closely involved in the investigations and the outcomes of the Tennessee Federal Bureau of Investigation were published in the local newspapers. I can not be anymore specific.” The telephone interview ended at that point. I also attempted to interview Attorney Kustoff, a former Attorney general for the State of Tennessee. I called his office in an attempt to get either a face-to-face interview with him or a short telephone interview.
When asked specifically what I wanted to speak with him about, I proposed the same question that was asked of former Chief of the Memphis Police department, ‘Would he comment on one case involving corruption within the Memphis City Government, or any other Tennessee government official. On follow up, I was told that Attorney Kustoff would not have any comments because of possible legal complications. My efforts to contact a current Memphis Police Department spokesperson were unsuccessful, buried in a host of unreturned phone calls. However, I was able to interview my seventy-two year old grandmother, Mrs. Dorothy Jackson Walker, who was an elementary school principal in the legacy Memphis City Schools and an advocate for public schools for over thirty years. During her tenure as principal at Georgia Avenue Elementary school, the school was never on the list of low achieving schools published by the Tennessee Department of Education.
After giving Mrs. Walker some time to prepare notes, the interview went as follows:
Me: Are you aware of any crimes that were committed by Memphis City Schools’ administrators or other staff personnel?
Mrs. Walker: Yes, there were many crimes committed by Memphis City Schools ‘administrators or other staff personnel.
Me: Would you please share them with me?
Mrs. Walker: Let me try to think and put these in so sort of order.
Me: Don’t worry about order; I am only interested in the crime themselves.
Mrs. Walker: Recently, a principal at an elementary school had some one on her staff working at her home instead of being at school teaching in a classroom.
Me: What kind of work was she doing?
Mrs. Walker: She was house cleaning and baby sitting.
Me: How did school officials become aware of this behavior?
Mrs. Walker: Another principal told a school official
Me: And then what happened?
Mrs. Walker: School officials sent security officers to the school to escort her off the premises and she was subsequently fired.
Me: Was there any kind of criminal charges?
Mrs. Walker: Not to my knowledge! (Laughter)
Me: Why did you laugh?
Mrs. Walker: Because school officials never file criminal charges against an employee. If criminal charges are ever filled against a teacher or principal, it is usually because there was physical injury to a child and the parents file a joint law suit against the teacher and the Memphis City Schools.
Me: Was this event ever report to the media?
Mrs. Walker: No, that rarely happens! The School System tries to avoid all negative publicity.
Me: Do you know of any other instances of crimes being committed?
Mrs. Walker: Child, there are lots of crimes that have been committed and have not been reported to police authorities or news media. These crimes are handled as quietly as possible to keep down negative publicity and handling it in this manner really saves money in the long run because of the expenses related to lawyers and trails. School officials just use the State Tenure Laws relative to personal conduct and the teacher’s contract to quickly resolve the issue.
Me: Before we go on let me ask you what you personally feel about crimes of this nature. My topic for this paper is corruption; do you think these crimes are corruption? Do you feel the manner that these are handled is appropriate?
Mrs. Walker: These people are as corrupt as any other person committing crimes. Yes, I think the Memphis City Schools officials are handling these cases appropriately. Think about this, teachers and other school personnel are held in high esteem by the community at large. These people have spent a great deal of lives preparing to become teachers and school administrators. Their whole livelihoods are dependent upon this profession. What about their own children and the questions they must face? Yes, the penalties go way beyond just the losing of the job. Why, most of the times they can’t even get another job in a school.
Me: Ok, please tell me about another incident.
Mrs. Walker: Alright, I am going to just tell you the whole story and you can ask me questions after I finsh.
Me: OK. Fine!
Mrs. Walker: Mary Maclin, a principal, improperly used school funds. She took her family members on an out of town trip that they did not pay for. She charged other people more than the minimum fees required to make up for the difference. Also, she allegedly bought a rug with Title I funds for her school but gave it to her daughter for use at another school in her classroom. This principal, also allegedly sold some kind of booklets, but never reported the money to the financial secretary. Additionally, she directed some custodial staff members go to her parents house to clean it on school time and with school resources.
Me: How did school officials become aware of this behavior?
Mrs. Walker: Well, it seems that an enterprising teacher that the principal had been ‘riding’ watched the principal very closely and checked records and asked questions and took notes which she gave to the Memphis City School personnel department officials and to the Teachers’ Union.
Me: And then what happened?
Mrs. Walker: School officials made a through investigation and the principal was subsequently fired.
Me: Will you share another incident with me. Oh, why is it that you know all of this and there were no publicized accounts.
Mrs. Walker: When you have been in an organization for over thirty years, you meet a lot of people, you help a lot of people, and you make a lot of friends and enemies. People tell me things because they want to talk with me.
Me: Tell me some more! This is almost like a soap opera.
Mrs. Walker: Ok, I will give you short synopses of several incidents the principals or personnel were all fired and very little or any of these were publicized.
Me: Ok, go!
Mrs. Walker: -Laviticus Pointer claimed he used school funds to buy food for athletes that had already been paid for by a school sponsor.
-Louis Holmes used God’s name in a prayer in an assembly. This is forbidden. A faculty member objected to this and reported it to a Central Office Official.
-Liriah Sabir, a principal, hired people to work at her school without proper authorization and going through the personnel department.-The principal at Ridgeway Middle School failed to inform a parent that the child had and accident and hit her head on a desk. Due to the lack of attention, the injury caused the child’s death.
-Sonny Hicks, a principal, had sexual contact with a female student that lead to her getting pregnant. The mother sued the principal and the Memphis Board of Education. Due to the nature of this case, by law, it was published in the local newspaper, the Commercial Appeal.
-Donna Essary wrote and cashed Memphis City Schools’ checks and cashed them at a casino in Mississippi. I was told that she lost the money. Talking about poetic justice!
-Edwin Gaskin, a principal, changed some students test scores to meet academic goals.
-The principal at Fairview Elementary used his playground to allow people attending the fair to park for a fee. He and his secretary kept the money collected.
Me: Wow, Grandmother you have an excellent memory.
Mrs. Walker: I can remember all these things but I can’t remember where I laid my eyeglasses. Let me tell you the last story. This one involved some jail time for several people and several people lost there jobs. This story was covered extensively by the Commercial Appeal and the local Television Stations.
Me: What is it?
Mrs. Walker: As you know, in order for new teachers gain certification to teach and to keep their jobs, they must pass the PRAXIS in their area of specialization. Mr. Clarence Munford had set up a network of proven test takers who would be paid a fee for masquerading as another person for a large sum of money. One test taker acted stupid and went to the same facility twice in one day, got caught, and blew the whole scheme sky high. I believe some people are still waiting for trails or sentencing. All known perpetrators have been fired. I am grateful that I do not have any children in any of those schools corruption in one area usually manifest itself in other areas. There seems to be an epidemic of corrupt ideals of what is correct and what is wrong. I certainly hope what appears to be an environment that breeds or fosters corruption is not prevalent.
But one must wonder, if Mrs. Dorothy Walker has witnessed these many corrupt acts how many have been observed by others or have not been reported.
On August 20, 2012, the Commercial Appeal posted an article titled, “Former State Sen., John Ford Released from Federal Prison” written by Marc Perrusquia The article stated that Former State Senator John Ford returned to Memphis on Monday, four years and four months after he left to serve a term in federal prison for bribery. He was released from the Federal Correctional Institute in Yazoo City, Miss and reported to a halfway house at 1629 Winchester (Perrusquia, Former state Sen. John Ford released from federal prison, August 2012) The article further stated that John Ford was one of 12 legislators, lobbyists and local officials caught in a bribery sting operation by the FBI's Tennessee Waltz which involved undercover agents posing as corrupt businessmen who offered Ford and others cash for their influence and favorable legislation. Ford was video taped pocketing $55,000 in cash. He was later convicted in a separate trial of taking $850,000 in kickbacks from state contractors and sentenced to 14 years. However, the conviction was tossed out when the U.S. Supreme Court reformed the federal Honest Services Fraud statute. (Perrusquia, Former state Sen. John Ford released from federal prison, August 2012) My grandparents voted for John Ford several times but became disenchanted with his personal life and brashness. They did not vote for him in his last election. In their opinion, he was too corrupt and reckless and selfish to serve the people who voted for him and to be a role model for young people. To me, John Ford was the most disappointing political figure in my young life. His corruption was well known to me, a person who was not normally interested in those types of things.
The Memphis Flyer posted an article titled,”On Rickey Peete: "An indictment against all of us".by John Branston. The article begins with the following statement, “Nothing is more hypocritical than the finger-pointing of white Memphians who say the political career of Rickey Peete illustrates some kind of inherent criminal shortcomings of the black electorate. (Branston, 2010, Fall) “I can’t begin to express how angry I feel about this kind of horrible indictment of all Black people. Ricky Peete is a convicted felon of his own doing! He has proven to be as corrupt as some of his White counterparts and his other racial peers. In my opinion, what happened to allow Ricky Peete to be elected three times by voters in his majority-black district after he had served a prison sentence for taking a bribe as a member of the Memphis City Council is an indictment against a system that would allow him to seek office. This also illustrates exactly why I am conducting this research! As I stated earlier, I want to be in a position to help educate my family and friends about the subtleties of corruption and corrupt officials. We have got to learn how corruption lessens our daily livelihoods and decrease our opportunities for advance. We can no longer continue to support weak and corrupt individuals just because they happen to be Black. For example, Ricky Peete was found guilty on a federal bribery charge that was in performance of his public duties. (Branston, 2010, Fall) Not because he is black and black people voted for him but, because the person, Ricky Peete is corrupt and is not worthy of our support. On May 25, 2010, Jody Callahan wrote an article titled “Former Memphis councilman Rickey Peete granted early release. She begin the article by stating, “Former Memphis City Council member Rickey Peete, who was twice convicted on bribery charges, has been released early from federal prison. (Callahan, 2010 May)” The article continues to discuss the and how Mr. Peete was in a halfway house but, the most important statement was his was being released for his 2007 conviction to taking $12,400 in bribes for his vote on a zoning issue and this was his second conviction for selling his votes. (Callahan, 2010 May) I was. Immediately impacted by the reality that voters in his district were, in reality, actually voting for corruption in our government. The need for education is very apparent.
On December 19, 2006, the Memphis Business Journal reported that “Memphis City Council members Edmund Ford and Rickey Peete were officially indicted for allegedly taking bribes to influence City Council votes.” (Ford, Peete indicted, 2006, December) The indictments alleged that Shelby County Commission candidate Joe Cooper, acted as an informant for federal agents and allegedly paid both Peete and Ford $14,500 and $8,900, respectively. Payments were made to the men to guarantee that the City Council would approve a certain real estate development and billboard deal. (Ford, Peete indicted, 2006, December) I do not consider this to be just another indictment against corrupt politicians selling their votes. This trend is getting alarming when taken into the context that in the City of Memphis Black politicians are in the great minority and all of these politicians are Black.
I was now curious about corruption on a bigger scale. I decided to read portions a book titled “ The Corruption Chronicles: Barack Obama’s Big Secrecy, Big Corruption, and Big Government written Tom Fitton of the Judicial Watch. I quickly discovered that Mr. Fitton termed every major action taken by President Barack Obama as corrupt. Mr. Fitton said, “The first indication that then Senator Barack Obama was personally corrupt was his relationship with dirty real estate magnate and fund raiser Tony Rezko.” (Fitton, Introducing Barack Obama, 2012) Mr. Fitton goes on to say that then Senator Barack Obama denied that he was a personal friend with Tony Rezko and he could prove that he lied. Mr. Fitton continued by indicating that Barack Obama became involved in the corrupt politics of Chicago by working closely with known political machine members.
He also, mentioned his relationship with his pastor, whom he called the radical Marxist Reverend Jeremiah Wright. These claims have been well documented in the mass media. He really attacked Barack Obama’s religious affiliations as if Barack Obama was advocating or supporting anti-American and anti-Christian values. (Fitton, Introducing Barack Obama, 2012) Fitton’s ranting did not convince me that Barack Obama was corrupt. Many liberals sought to disenfranchise Americans from Barack Obama by making all kinds of claims involving wrong doings. This was especially true when it came to democrats who were most likely to vote for and support Barack Obama.
Results
I am aware that results are usually reported in more quantitative terms but, the nature of this research did not lend itself to any quantitative analysis. However, things I learned include;
- The idea that brings ideals and perspectives into focus is part of learning.
- The notion that things you do not understand or even think are important can negatively affect your livelihood.
- I also learned that corruption exists in all phases, aspects, etc. of your life.
- Everyone is impacted daily with corruption and many times. they are not even aware of that fact.
- Corruption is more evasive and massive than I ever envisioned.
- Corruption is almost impossible to control.
- Corruption is not unique to just the rich and powerful.
- Corruption can topple the Presidency of the United States.

Discussion I am not sure what these findings mean! There are many laws already in place to prevent corruption but they don’t seem to curtail the active pursuit of corruptive behavior by men and women seeking power and glory through the acquisition of money by any means possible. I don’t believe additional laws or more stringent application of the laws or stricter penalties would stop the tide of corruption. History has taught that governments, organizations and institutions have always been venues for corruption to breed and grow.
Conclusion
- The minority voting population is very immature and should grow up and stop voting for candidates of color just because of their color.
- Laws should be enacted to prevent people like Ricky Peete from running for public office.
- Corruption will always exist in governments, organizations and institutions.
- A liberal education would help people understand and more readily recognize corruption.
I am sure that there are some actions that can be taken to curb the tide of corruption that seems to permeate every aspect of our community. At this time I have no suggestions that would curb this tide. However, CorruptionControl.com has a program that advocates mounting massive anti-corruption campaigns, mainly focused on awareness, transparency and exposure to curb corruption. (Approach, 2014) I would advocate utilizing programs of this nature when ever possible.

Work Cited

Approach. (2014, March 21). Retrieved from Corruption Control:

http://www.corruptioncontrol.com

Barnhart, C. L. (1966). In The World Book Encyclopedia (p. 450). Chicago: Field Enterprises

Educational Corporation.

Branston, J. ( 2010, Fall). On Rickey Peete: "An indictment again all of us.". Memphis Flyer, 3-

4.

Callahan, J. (2010 May). Former Memphis councilman Rickey Peete granted early release from

prison. Commerical Appeal, pp.A1,A3.

Conklin, J. E. (2004). White Collar. In Criminology (pp. 64-65). New York: Pearson.