Today, the DOJ announced the conviction of Los Angeles-area film executives Gerald Green and Patricia Green of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and money laundering laws, as well as substantive violations of the FCPA and U.S. money laundering laws. The convictions of this husband and wife, which came on Friday of last week, relate to “a sophisticated bribery scheme that enabled the defendants to obtain a series of Thai government contracts, including valuable contracts to manage and operate Thailand’s yearly film festival.” Sentencing has been set for Dec. 17, 2009, before the Honorable George Wu in the Central District of California.

The case caused me to have a flashback to a brilliant idea I had back in 2005 that the Bureau of Prisons has not yet implemented (the BoP probably just hasn't gotten around to it yet). In 2005, after reading this NYT article about a criminal insider trading prosecution under way against a Massachusetts husband and wife who faced up to 10 years in prison on charges that they traded on inside information, I had a moment of clarity: Marital Prisons!

As I said at the time, under my plan, couples like the Greens

would not be sent off to random separate prisons if convicted but rather to "marital prison." This would be a special prison dedicated to simultaneous husband and wife offenders, and they would, of course, share a cell. I see many efficiencies here:

save on cell space

easier for relatives to visit both inmates

could serve as a significant deterrent to husbands or wives who don't get along well but who are thinking of committing a crime together

eliminates need for conjugal visits

Hey, it has been four years! What are we waiting for?!