NCJ Number
125347
Journal
Vanderbilt Law Review Volume: 43 Issue: 3 Dated: (April 1990) Pages: 769-803
Date Published
1990
Length
35 pages
Annotation
After examining the history of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), this article examines legislation designed to modify it, specifically House Bill 1046 and a bill proposed by Congressman William J. Hughes.
Abstract
Over 70 percent of the civil RICO cases are essentially ordinary business disputes that no prosecutor would undertake as a criminal case. There is little justification for continuing a civil remedy as broad as the present law contains. The only difference between civil RICO and criminal RICO is the greater restraint and the more limited resources of prosecutors. Every civil RICO claim that survives a motion to dismiss by definition charges the defendant with a criminal violation of RICO. If the civil remedy is excessive, then so is the definition of the crime. The bills under study in congressional committees address only the civil remedy of RICO and ignore the basic conceptual flaws in the statute. Bill 1046 changes criminal RICO only by adding predicate offenses, and the Hughes proposal modifies criminal RICO only by codifying the very judicial glosses that have proved unable to provide clear limits to the reach of the statute. The solution is to repeal RICO and enact a package of laws that would preserve RICO's benefits. 73 footnotes.