Environmental crimes cause serious harm to humans, animals, and the natural environment in the United States. Yet our understanding of how they are investigated, prosecuted, and punished is at best fragmented and incomplete. What crimes has the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Criminal Enforcement program investigated and federal prosecutors pursued since the institutionalization of the criminal enforcement apparatus? What major themes do we see in those prosecutions? What punishments are meted out to environmental criminals? Does this process have much deterrent value?
Toxic Intent provides readers with answers to these questions, offering a comprehensive account of how the federal government punishes serious environmental crimes in the United States. Based on the authors’ detailed analysis and review of EPA criminal investigations and cases from 1983 to the present, readers will come away with a deep understanding of environmental enforcement in the United States.
About the Author
Joshua Ozymy is an Associate Professor of Political Science in the Department of Political Science and Public Service at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. His research centers on environmental law and social policy, particularly how we enforce environmental laws and how they might be improved to better protect the most vulnerable members of society. He was previously a Professor of Political Science and Director of the Honors Program and Strategic Initiatives at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.
Melissa Jarrell Ozymy is a Professor of Criminology and Department Head of Social, Cultural and Justice Studies at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Her research focuses on environmental crime and victimization, environmental justice, and how environmental crimes are portrayed in the media. She was previously a Professor of Criminal Justice and Dean of University College at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.
