NCJ Number
125342
Journal
Vanderbilt Law Review Volume: 43 Issue: 3 Dated: (April 1990) Pages: 639-649
Date Published
1990
Length
11 pages
Annotation
After outlining the author's views on the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), this article comments on the mail and wire fraud predicates and their role in the problems experienced with RICO, reviews the current status of RICO reform, and proposes legislative measures for resolving some of RICO's problems.
Abstract
The problems with civil RICO stem largely from the breadth and vagueness of criminal RICO. Increasing the number of predicate offenses, as is proposed by the RICO bills in the 101st Congress, would only aggravate the problems of reach and vagueness inherent in the statute. RICO's mail and wire fraud statutes can be used to reach almost all fraudulent activity. This "adaptability" has caused much of the problem in both criminal and civil RICO; however, there is little or no support in Congress to delete mail and wire fraud laws from RICO. A promising approach to RICO reform, which is reflected in a bill the author is working on, would tighten up both criminal and civil RICO and make changes to civil RICO that would emulate the results attained by prosecutorial discretion in the criminal area. 45 footnotes.