Its effectiveness relies on federal prosecution of crimes that are generally left to state and local authorities, with the expectation that the greater supply of federal prisons and stricter sentencing guidelines will serve as a deterrent.

Criminals' rights were curtailed and stricter sentencing guidelines put in place.

At the same time, the Justice Department - criticized in some quarters for a sluggish approach to white-collar crime - is pushing to enact tougher sentencing guidelines to punish companies, executives and outside professionals.

The United States Sentencing Commission has proposed stiffer sentencing guidelines under the corporate reform bill that Congress passed last summer, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

During his tenure, in the case of Limon v. State, Kline defended a Kansas law which provided substantially higher sentencing guidelines for acts of homosexual statutory rape compared to equivalent heterosexual acts.

It recommends stronger sentencing guidelines and specifically adds failure to certify corporate financial reports as a criminal offense.

Similar hearings around the country, as well as those held by individual judges, have issued conflicting opinions on the stricter sentencing guidelines called for by the 1984 Comprehensive Crime Control Act.

As mayor, Kaine gained national attention following the implementation of a gun law known as Project Exile, an initiative that moved trials for armed defendants to federal court, which has stiffer sentencing guidelines.

Under new, stiffer sentencing guidelines for securities fraud, a possible plea might carry an extensive prison sentence, and the talks have deadlocked, people involved said.

Under the older sentencing guidelines, a first-time, nonviolent offender who committed a fraud that caused 50 or more people to lose $100 million or more faced a prison sentence of 5 years to 6.5 years in a federal institution.