Law Commons^™

Rico's Long Arm, Randy D. Gordon

Faculty Scholarship

RICO has for over 50 years presented something of a parlor game for lawyers, mostly because its text leaves wide latitude in interpretation. And, as is often the case with RICO, resolution of one question begets more. The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Yegiazaryan v. Smagin proves no exception. Here, the Court brought some clarity to a question left open by RJR Nabisco: viz, what must one plead and prove to satisfy the “domestic injury” requirement necessary to invoke an extraterritorial application of RICO. The Court held that a foreign plaintiff can indeed, given the right facts and circumstances, establish …

Game Theory Optimized Fraud: How The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act Created A Virtually Riskless Environment For White Collar Crime In Online Poker, Jeffrey Woolf

Upper Level Writing Requirement Research Papers

No abstract provided.

Criminal Labor Law, Benjamin Levin

Publications

This Article examines a recent rise in civil suits brought against unions under criminal statutes. By looking at the long history of criminal regulation of labor, the Article argues that these suits represent an attack on the theoretical underpinnings of post-New Deal U.S. labor law and an attempt to revive a nineteenth century conception of unions as extortionate criminal conspiracies. The Article further argues that this criminal turn is reflective of a broader contemporary preference for finding criminal solutions to social and economic problems. In a moment of political gridlock, parties seeking regulation increasingly do so via criminal statute. In …

Criminal Labor Law, Benjamin Levin

Scholarship@WashULaw

This Article examines a recent rise in suits brought against unions under criminal statutes. By looking at the long history of criminal regulation of labor, the Article argues that these suits represent an attack on the theoretical underpinnings of post-New Deal U.S. labor law and an attempt to revive a nineteenth century conception of unions as extortionate criminal conspiracies. The Article further argues that this criminal turn is reflective of a broader contemporary preference for finding criminal solutions to social and economic problems. In a moment of political gridlock, parties seeking regulation increasingly do so via criminal statute. In this …

Of Gangs And Gaggles: Can A Corporation Be Part Of An Association-In-Fact Rico Enterprise? Linguistic, Historical, And Rhetorical Perspectives, Randy D. Gordon

Faculty Scholarship

Over 30 years ago, courts of appeals began to hold that the RICO statute’s definition of association-in-fact enterprise is broad enough to include corporations as constituent members, even though that definition states that such an association is limited to a “group of individuals.” This Article demonstrates why these cases were wrongly decided from a variety of perspectives: linguistic, systemic and consequentialist. It also suggests a strategy for correcting this widespread interpretive error and provides evidence that the Supreme Court may be disposed to agree that the lower courts have uniformly erred.

American Gangsters: Rico, Criminal Syndicates, And Conspiracy Law As Market Control, Benjamin Levin

Publications

In an effort to reexamine legal and political decisions about criminalization and the role of the criminal law in shaping American markets and social institutions, this Article explores the ways in which criminal conspiracy laws in the United States have historically been used to subdue nonstate actors and informal markets that threatened the hegemony of the state and formal market. To this end, the Article focuses primarily on the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) as illustrative of broader trends in twentieth-century criminal policy. Enacted in 1970, RICO provides criminal sanctions for individuals engaged in unacceptable organized activities and …

American Gangsters: Rico, Criminal Syndicates, And Conspiracy Law As Market Control, Benjamin Levin

Scholarship@WashULaw

In an effort to re-examine legal and political decisions about criminalization and the role of the criminal law in shaping American markets and social institutions, this Article explores the ways in which criminal conspiracy laws in the United States have historically been used to subdue non-state actors and informal markets that threatened the hegemony of the state and formal market. To this end, the Article focuses primarily on the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) as illustrative of broader trends in twentieth century criminal policy. Enacted in 1970, RICO provides criminal sanctions for individuals engaged in unacceptable organized activities …

Friction In Reconciling Criminal Forfeiture And Bankruptcy: The Criminal Forfeiture Part, Sarah N. Welling, Jane Lyle Hord

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

The federal government uses two general types of asset forfeiture, criminal and civil. This Article addresses criminal forfeiture, which allows the government to take property from defendants when they are convicted of crimes. It is “an aspect of punishment imposed following conviction of a substantive criminal offense.” The goal of this Article is to give an overview of the forfeiture process, specifically in relation to claims victims and creditors might assert as third-party claimants.

Blue-Collar Crime: Conspiracy, Organized Labor, And The Anti-Union Civil Rico Claim, Benjamin Levin

Scholarship@WashULaw

This Article provides an historically-rooted analysis of a recent spate of civil RICO complaints arising from labor union organizing campaigns. The Article historicizes contemporary civil RICO suits against labor unions by analogizing to nineteenth century conspiracy prosecutions of unions. In tracing this history of organized labor’s social standing, the Article addresses the cultural framing of the union and its place in political and cultural discourse over the past century. The civil RICO complaints have received limited scholarly attention mainly focusing on issues of federal preemption; this Article argues for a broad reading of the cases as a way to understand …

Clarity And Confusion: Rico's Recent Trips To The United States Supreme Court, Randy D. Gordon

Faculty Scholarship

The complicated structure of the Racketeer and Corrupt Organization Act has bedeviled courts courts and litigants since its adoption four decades ago. Two questions have recurred with some frequency. First, is victim reliance an element of a civil RICO claim predicated on allegations of fraud? Second, what is the difference between an illegal association-in-fact and an ordinary civil conspiracy? In a series of three recent cases, the United States Supreme Court brought much needed clarity to the first question. But in another recent case, the Court upended decades of circuit-court precedent holding that an actionable association-in-fact must be embody a …

Crimes That Count Twice: A Reexamination Of Rico's Nexus Requirements Under 18 U.S.C. §§ 1962(C) And 1964(C), Randy D. Gordon

Faculty Scholarship

The complicated structure of the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act makes it difficult to determine when “ordinary” crimes spill over into RICO violations. This Article examines and synthesizes various “nexus” requirements that courts have devised to separate non-RICO crimes from full-blown RICO violations. The Article concludes with a discussion of the United States Supreme Court’s recent holding in Anza v. Ideal Steel Supply Corporation, 126 S. Ct. 1991 (2006), which sharply limits certain types of civil RICO claims.

Rethinking Civil Rico: The Vexing Problem Of Causation In Fraud-Based Claims Under 18 U.S.C. § 1962(C), Randy D. Gordon

Faculty Scholarship

To recover in a private action, the three-part structure of RICO demands proof of particularized crimes at two levels and civil standing to sue for those crimes. The interpretation and application of the standing requirement — which arises from the statute’s mandate that compensable injuries be caused “by reason of” acts of racketeering — have bedeviled courts and litigants for decades. Recent developments in class action law have exacerbated the problem. As more and more courts have rendered it nearly impossible to certify classes asserting state-law claims, class plaintiffs have turned to uniform federal laws like RICO. But civil RICO …

Time And Money: One State's Regulation Of Check-Based Loans, Deborah A. Schmedemann

Faculty Scholarship

This article, which is part narrative and part essay, describes one professor's experience working on “check cashing” (or “check-based loans”) cases at the Appalachian Research and Defense Fund in eastern Kentucky. Parts I and II describe the typical check-based loan transaction and its effects on low-income consumers. Part III recounts how the law of check-based loans has developed in Kentucky, during the professor’s time there and since. Part IV sets forth some observations about language and legal process, suggested by the preceding narrative.

Now V. Scheidler, Round Two, Craig M. Bradley

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Use Of Criminal Statutes To Regulate Financial Markets In The United States, Paul Marcus

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Crime Legislation And The Public Interest: Lessons From Civil Rico, Douglas E. Abrams

Faculty Publications

This Securities Symposium provides an opportunity to evaluate civil RICO's place in American law at the end of the private remedy's first quarter-century. In its essence, civil RICO is the unfortunate product of crime legislation hastily enacted in the heat of a national political campaign. Rushing toward adjournment, Congress enacted RICO on October 12, 1970 as Title IX of the omnibus Organized Crime Control Act (OCCA). President Nixon signed the OCCA on October 15. Less than three weeks later, Americans preoccupied with crime went to the polls in off-year congressional elections after a shrill campaign dominated by ‘law and order‘ …

Reflections On Reves V. Ernst & Young: Its Meaning And Impact On Substantive, Accessory, Aiding Abetting And Conspiracy Liability Under Rico, G. Robert Blakey, Kevin P. Roddy

Journal Articles

In March 1993, accountants, attorneys and other professionals—who generally view RICO with suspicion—breathed a sigh of relief when they read the Washington Post: "People who lose money in thrifts and other businesses that go belly up because of wrongdoing can no longer use [RICO] to sue lawyers, accountants, or other advisers who played key roles in the enterprise." Unfortunately, this terse description of the Supreme Court's decision issued the previous day in Reves v. Ernst & Young may persuade professionals that they dropped an anchor in a tranquil safe-harbor, far from an exposure to the perils of the private enforcement …

Shaping Today's Forfeiture Law: A Conversation With Senator Mcclellan, G. Robert Blakey

Journal Articles

In any society, the government's ability to interfere with life, liberty or property is always open for full discussion. In this conversation, Professor Blakey discusses property in the context of organized and white-collar crime, in addition to criminal forfeiture, and frames his discussion around his work with Senator John McClellan on drafting the Organized Crime Control Act.

N.O.W. V. Scheidler: Rico Meets The First Amendment, Craig M. Bradley

Articles by Maurer Faculty

A look at the controversial N.O.W. v. Scheidler case.

Money Laundering: Business Beware, Larry D. Thompson

Scholarly Works

This Article examines the constitutionality of the Anti-Money Laundering Statutes. Specifically, the Article stresses that the Anti-Money Laundering Statutes, like RICO, are unconstitutionally vague and overbroad when applied to routine business transactions. Accordingly, Part II summarizes the void for vagueness and overbreadth doctrines. Part III sets forth the elements of the Anti-Money Laundering Statutes and then examines these elements under both doctrines. Part IV discusses how the lack of guidelines and, in some cases, the lack of prosecutorial discretion exacerbates the problems of vagueness and overbreadth. The Article concludes with the suggestion that guidelines similar to those adopted for RICO …

Symposium: Law And The Continuing Enterprise: Perspectives On Rico: Foreword, G. Robert Blakey

Journal Articles

The past twenty years witnessed a sea change in the way that organized crime is investigated, prosecuted, and sanctioned, both criminally and civilly. RICO allowed the law to catch up with the rest of society. In the twentieth century, organizations, not people, control the important elements of society such as: government, commerce and labor. Until the passage of RICO, organizations as such were seldom the fcus of the law-outside of, perhaps, the antitrust statutes. This is no longer true.

RICO, however, is not limited to the activities of traditional Mafia families. It does not matter to a racketeering victim what …

Foreword: Debunking Rico's Myriad Myths, G. Robert Blakey

Journal Articles

Foreword: In January of 1931, Warner Brothers-First National released a film entitled Little Caesar. Based on a book by W. R. Burnett, the movie, loosely portraying the life of Alphonse Capone, starred Edward G. Robinson in its title role, Caesar Enrico Bandello, also known as "Little Caesar," or “Rico.” Robinson, as he lies dying, utters one of the most famous end lines in film history: “Mother of Mercy–is this the end of Rico?” Likewise, no one who looks at this Symposium–or others7-or the seemingly inevitable march of RICO reform (chloroform?) legislation through Congress–or the endless efforts of the federal …

What's Next?: The Future Of Rico, G. Robert Blakey, John C. Coffee, Paul E. Coffey, L. Gordon Crovitz

Journal Articles

Editor's Note: After the presentation of the articles, the symposium concluded with a structured debate and an open discussion. The participants in the debate were Professor Blakey and Mr. Crovitz. The ensuing discussion was moderated by Professor Coffee and featured Professor Blakey, Mr. Coffey, and Mr. Crovitz, as well as questions from the audience. The edited transcript is presented here.

Hearing On Proposals For Changing Little R.I.C.O., Joint Committee On Organized Crime And Gang Violence

California Joint Committees

No abstract provided.

Note: United States V. Harvey: Are Criminal Defense Fees More Vulnerable Than Necessary?, Eric Easton

All Faculty Scholarship

In United States v. Harvey, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that Congress may not constitutionally require convicted racketeers and drug traffickers to forfeit property used to pay legitimate defense attorney fees. To the extent that such forfeitures and related pre-conviction restraints on transfer are authorized by provisions of the Comprehensive Forfeiture Act of 1984 (the Act), those provisions violate an accused's right to counsel of choice as secured by the Sixth Amendment.This article argues that the court's holding in Harvey was more narrowly drawn than necessary, and that as a consequence criminal defense attorney …

Rico On The High Seas: A Symposium On Civil Rico And Maritime Law: Civil Rico's Cause Of Action: The Landscape After Sedima, Douglas E. Abrams

Faculty Publications

As the names ‘Organized Crime Control Act’ and ‘Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations' themselves indicate, Congress' concern was the threat posed by organized crime and racketeering. The OCCA's purpose was ‘to seek the eradication of organized crime in the United States . . . by providing enhanced sanctions and new remedies to deal with the unlawful activities of those engaged in organized crime.’ According to the Senate Report, RICO's purpose was to ‘eliminate . . . the infiltration of organized crime and racketeering into legitimate organizations operating in interstate commerce.’

Equitable Relief Under Civil Rico: Reflection On Religious Technology Center V. Wallersheim: Will Civil Rico Be Effective Only Against White-Collar Crime?, G. Robert Blakey, Scott D. Cessar

Journal Articles

The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held in Religious Technology Center v. Wollersheim that Congress did not intend to give private civil RICO plaintiffs any right to injunctive relief. This Article argues that the Wollershiem’s reasoning is flawed for being inconsistent with the text, the legislative history, and the purpose of RICO. In addition, it argues that it is inconsistent with statutory interpretation principles advanced by the Supreme Court. In particular, it discusses the case’s facts, provides an overview of civil RICO, examines and critiques Wollersheim’s reasoning, and addresses the adverse policy, economic, and political consequences of Wollersheim …

A Uniform Limitations Period For Civil Rico, Elizabeth De Armond

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Racketeer Influenced And Corrupt Organizations (Rico)—Securities And Commercial Fraud As Racketeering Crime After Sedima: What Is A "Pattern Of Racketeering Activity"?, Barbara Black

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

Congress enacted the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) in 1970 in order to stem the infiltration and corruption of legitimate businesses by organized crime. During the 1970's, civil litigants virtually ignored the statute, but in the 1980's the utility of RICO's civil provisions has come to be generally recognized. Attorneys representing the victims of securities and commercial fraud now routinely add a claim alleging a RICO violation. Ii It is the attractiveness of the remedy - the successful plaintiff's recovery of treble damages and attorney's fees - that has led to this ever increasing use of RICO.

To …

Filling In The Gap Left By Congress: What Is The Statute Of Limitations For Private Rico Claims?, Barbara Black

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

In increasing number, victims of business fraud are bringing lawsuits under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). Since the statute does not set out a time limit for bringing suit, the courts must determine the appropriate statute of limitations. Malley-Duff & Associates, Inc. v. Crown Life Insurance Co. illustrates the difficulties Congress creates for the courts when it fails to provide a limitations period. RICO makes it illegal to engage in a "pattern of racketeering activity" for certain illegal purposes. A "pattern of racketeering activity" consists of at least two acts of "racketeering activity" within a ten-year period. …