Racketeering Prosecution - The Use and Abuse of RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Statute)

• NCJ Number: 104335
• Journal: Rutgers Law Journal Volume: 16 Issue: 3-4 Dated: (Spring-Summer 1985) Pages: 633-654
• Author(s): J Dombrink; J W Meeker
• Date Published: 1985
• Length: 22 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: An earlier version of this article was presented at the Annual Meeting of the Western Society of Criminology, San Diego, California, February 1984.

Annotation

This study analyzed all of the criminal litigation under the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization Act (RICO) which underwent appellate review between 1970 and 1983 (80 cases) to identify how RICO was used and possibly abused.

Abstract

Of the 71 cases that could be classified, 51 dealt with traditional organized crime activities. Critics of the Justice Department's use of RICO have argued that it can be used in white collar crime not necessarily associated with organized crime. If RICO were being used extensively in white collar crime cases, there would be a number of cases involving legitimate businesses using illegal money and being illegally operated. Only 11 of the 80 cases involved either charge. Nine of these 11 were affirmed by the courts. Only 13 percent of the cases involved organizations or individuals associated with organizations as defendants. Critics of the forfeiture provision of RICO have argued that it could be abused by forcing the forfeiture of assets not clearly acquired through organized criminal activities. Only 12 percent of the cases involved forfeiture issues. A major general criticism of RICO is that its interpretation and application is problematic and subject to abuse by prosecutors. Should this be the case, there would be a high proportion of split appellate decisions with dissenting opinions. Seventy percent of the cases, however, were decided unanimously, and 6 percent were split decisions with a concurrence. Split decisions with a dissent occurred in 19 percent of the cases, and they usually involved traditional organized crime racketeering activities. 1 table and 154 footnotes.