John Kroger is an Associate Professor of Law at Lewis & Clark Law School. He also was a member of the U.S. Justice Department's Enron Task Force. I asked him to comment on the symposium, and here are his thoughts:

I am shocked at how skeptical most of these blog entries are.  Of course, as a former prosecutor in the case, I am certainly biased.  That said, here’s a quick reality check.  In 2000, 96% of Enron’s reported net income and 105% of its reported funds flow came from accounting manipulation schemes, the vast majority of which clearly violated GAAP.  At the same time, Enron managed to keep some $25 billion in company debt off its financial statements, hidden from investors.  Lay told his employees to keep buying more Enron stock while he was secretly selling his own.  Both men made millions spinning the socks off investors for a company that was, in the end, revealed as an empty shell.  The jury heard months of testimony and concluded, quite reasonably, that the defendants knew precisely what was going on.  In the United States, we don’t always treat poor criminals and rich criminals alike, but we should.  When people commit fraud, they should go to prison.

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