April 18, 2008 3:59PM # Prosecutorial Power By [Tim Lynch](https://www.cato.org/people/tim-lynch) --- SHARE Good editorial in the [*Wall Street Journal* ](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120839079230521349.html)yesterday regarding the dismissal of Joseph P. Brandon. The piece notes how federal prosecutors are able to pressure CEOs like Warren Buffett to throw certain executives overboard in order to avoid a dubious federal indictment. Cato adjunct scholar [John Hasnas](https://www.cato.org/people/john-hasnas/) is quoted in the piece, noting that companies will do almost anything to avoid the accusation that they are being “uncooperative.” Hasnas is the author of the Cato book *[Trapped](http://www.catostore.org/index.asp?fa=ProductDetails&method=cats&scid=15&pid=1441292),* which shows how the government is increasingly coercing business executives to take unethical actions — such as discharging employees who have done nothing wrong. More [here](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=5974). ##### Related Tags [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).