NCJ Number
78839
Editor(s)
G R Blakey
Date Published
1980
Length
1155 pages
Annotation
A series of essays provides an overview of criminal and civil proceedings under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).
Abstract
A paper providing a criminal overview of the 1970 Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, legislation designed to counter organized crime's infiltration of legitimate businesses, discusses the types of RICO criminal prosecutions, the legislative history of RICO, the definitions of essential terms in RICO, RICO's sanctions and remedies, techniques of prosecution, and problems of implementation. The overview of permissible civil proceedings under RICO discusses the remedies, procedures, and advantages of such civil actions. The remaining papers, prepared by Cornell Law School students, discuss specific issues bearing upon the implementation of RICO. Following a discussion of RICO's legislative history and basic concepts, a number of papers consider RICO's criminal and civil applications to various violations and injuries. These include mail and wire fraud, securities fraud, arson, cigarette 'bootlegging,' and public corruption. A series of papers then examines issues related to the forfeiture sanction and remedy under RICO (requirement to give up property and other assets gained from criminal or injurious activity as defined by RICO). Essays also explore procedures and problems involved in bringing civil suit to collect mandated treble damages under RICO. Other issues discussed in relation to RICO are discovery rights for the plaintiff, use of a prior criminal judgment as collateral estoppel, class actions, statute of limitations, and the doctrine of fraudulent concealment. Extensive footnotes accompany each of the student essays. For specific papers in this collection, see NCJ 78840-78861.