NCJ Number
91791
Journal
American Journal of Criminal Law Volume: 11 Issue: 1 Dated: (March 1983) Pages: 1-65
Date Published
1983
Length
65 pages
Annotation
Operation Roadrunner, a Federal criminal antitrust investigation into alleged bid-rigging in the highway construction industry, challenges several former limitations on Federal prosecutorial power and poses a grossly unwarranted intrusion into State affairs.
Abstract
The investigation has spread to at least 18 States and has resulted in indictments against 186 individuals and 156 corporations. Most of the cases involve State highway projects where contractors agreed upon the low bidder before the beginning of the contract letting process. The indictments typically include counts of mail fraud and false statements as well as Sherman Act violations. However, the Federal power to attack bid rigging under the Sherman Act is unsettled. The localized structure of the industry means that no discernable interstate effects on commerce exist to justify Federal interference. In addition, State governments have not been lax in prosecuting the activity. Operation Roadrunner thus poses not only serious jurisdictional questions but also issues of comity and federalism. Furthermore, the Government has chosen to use Operation Roadrunner as a testing ground for a novel extension of an already broad mail fraud statute. Moreover, the Government bases its false statement counts on a provision in the Federal statutes which results in unfair pyramiding of indictments and which may also produce conflicts with other recognized protections of rights. The use of an expansive construction of the Sherman Act, mail fraud, and false statement statute also appears to have little practical justification, since lack of competition in the highway construction business probably rests in large part on institutional barriers to entry into the business. A total of 265 case notes are provided. (Author summary modified)