Law Commons^™

Born In The U.S.A.: Analyzing The Domesticity Of Judgments In The Civil Rico Context, Alex Reid

University of Cincinnati Law Review

No abstract provided.

Union Autonomy And Federal Intrusion, Hannah Borowski

University of Colorado Law Review

Union autonomy, a critical aspect of the health and growth of unions and employee power broadly, is weakened by (1) the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) attempts to target organized crime through civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) litigation against unions and (2) the creation of federal trusteeships in settlement, both of which can be analyzed through litigation between the DOJ and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (Teamsters or IBT) at the end of the 20th century. The field of compliance offers a solution to prevent these breaches of union autonomy. Relying on the Federal Sentencing Guidelines and the …

Payors, Players, And Proximate Cause, Elisabeth F. Crusey

Notre Dame Law Review

At issue is whether pharmaceutical companies’ allegedly misleading drug labels that providers rely upon when prescribing drugs to patients, which plaintiffs classify as mail and wire fraud, are the proximate causes of third-party payors (TPPs) overpaying for medication, or enduring a financial injury, such that the TPPs fulfill RICO standing under 18 U.S.C. § 1964(c). Included in this issue are questions about whether the alleged RICO violations directly caused the TPPs’ financial injuries such that plaintiffs meet the proximate cause requirements under § 1964(c) to state a valid claim. Presently, the First, Third, and Ninth Circuits agree that allegations of …

Quo Vadis? Assessing New York’S Civil Forfeiture Law, Steven L. Kessler

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Rico Had A Birthday! A Fifty-Year Retrospective Of Questions Answered And Open, Randy D. Gordon

Marquette Law Review

The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) came into

the world in 1970, a time of great social upheaval that was accompanied by

shifting attitudes towards both crime and civil litigation. From the outset, the

statute’s complexity, ambiguity, and uncertain purpose have confounded courts

and commentators. At least some doubts as to the statute’s meaning and

application arise because it has criminal and civil components that subject it

to the twin—yet antithetical—social impulses to be “tough on crime” while

containing a perceived “litigation explosion.” In this Article, I situate RICO

in this larger context and offer that context as …

Guilt By Association On The Docks And In The Casinos, Conor Byrnes

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Algorithms And Omertà: A Discussion Of Compatibility Between Seemingly Disparate Legal Spheres, Cameron Chuback

University of Miami Law Review

This Note assesses the viability of federal prosecutors’ use of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”) to prosecute spoofing, a market manipulating trading practice characterized by the cancellation of large orders meant to artificially alter market prices. Traditional spoofing convictions have been difficult to secure because of spoofing’s complicated and esoteric nature and difficult-to-prove elements. Now, for the first time, prosecutors in United States v. Smith have indicted alleged spoofers under RICO, which Congress designed with the intent to overcome evidentiary difficulties in organized crime prosecutions, particularly prosecutions of the American Mafia. However, the disparity between spoofing and …

Rico Extraterritoriality, Rjr Nabisco And Shareholder Residence – A Key Consideration In Determining Rico Domestic Injury, Laurence A. Steckman, Esq., Adam J. Rader, Esq.

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Federal Criminal Forfeiture Statute: Reining In The Government’S Previously Unbridled Ability To Seize Pretrial Assets, Kristyn Fleming Francese

Pace Law Review

American organized crime movies are synonymous with a climatic raid and seizure of illegal assets – typically drugs and guns. But what is really encompassed within the Government’s grasp; what are the “illegal assets”? The truth is that the Government has a wide reach and the criminal seizures don’t end when the screen goes black and the credits roll. The Federal Criminal Forfeiture Statute, as applied to RICO and CCE cases, typically entails the forfeiture of any asset connected to the underlying crimes. Given that criminal forfeiture penalties have ethical and constitutional considerations, it is not surprising to learn that …

Rico Run Amok, John K. Cornwell

SMU Law Review

In 1970, Congress enacted RICO to eradicate organized crime in America. To enlist the help of private citizens in this effort, the statute included civil provisions providing treble damages for plaintiffs who proved that they were injured by a pattern of racketeering activity. As the decades passed, civil RICO dramatically expanded its reach, addressing misconduct in a diverse array of contexts, including high-profile suits against the Clinton Foundation and Trump University. This Article examines this evolution, focusing on three factors that have figured prominently in civil RICO’s runaway growth: the broad interpretation of what constitutes a RICO “enterprise”; the flexibility …

Retaliatory Rico And The Puzzle Of Fraudulent Claiming, Nora Freeman Engstrom

Michigan Law Review

Over the past century, the allegation that the tort liability system incentivizes legal extortion and is chock-full of fraudulent claims has dominated public discussion and prompted lawmakers to ever-more-creatively curtail individuals’ incentives and opportunities to seek redress. Unsatisfied with these conventional efforts, in recent years, at least a dozen corporate defendants have “discovered” a new fraud-fighting tool. They’ve started filing retaliatory RICO suits against plaintiffs and their lawyers and experts, alleging that the initiation of certain non meritorious litigation constitutes racketeering activity— while tort reform advocates have applauded these efforts and exhorted more “courageous” companies to follow suit. Curiously, though, …

Equitable Relief For Private Rico Plaintiffs: Using Donziger To Remedy Courthouse Corruption, Anna Hanke

Journal of Law and Policy

In Chevron Corp. v. Steven Donziger, the Southern District of New York granted Chevron an injunction against Donziger under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, preventing the enforcement of an Ecuadorean judgment against it in the United States. This Note discusses the circuit court split on whether injunctive relief may be granted in a civil RICO suit, arguing that injunctive relief is an available remedy within the statute’s plain meaning, legislative intent, and evolving jurisprudence of civil RICO. The Note applies the Donziger interpretation of RICO to a case of a similarly corrupted judgment, Caperton v. A.T. Massey …

Equitable Relief For Private Rico Plaintiffs: Using Donziger To Remedy Courthouse Corruption, Anna Hanke

Journal of Law and Policy

In Chevron Corp. v. Steven Donziger, the Southern District of New York granted Chevron an injunction against Donziger under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, preventing the enforcement of an Ecuadorean judgment against it in the United States. This Note discusses the circuit court split on whether injunctive relief may be granted in a civil RICO suit, arguing that injunctive relief is an available remedy within the statute’s plain meaning, legislative intent, and evolving jurisprudence of civil RICO. The Note applies the Donziger interpretation of RICO to a case of a similarly corrupted judgment, Caperton v. A.T. Massey …

There Is A Better Way: It's Time To Overhaul The Model For Participation In Private Standard-Setting, Robert M. Webb

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

Impact Of Rico Upon Labor Unions, Robert M. Twiss

Akron Law Review

This paper will examine Title IX of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, relating to Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO). It will then discuss how Title IX pertains to labor unions and whether the assets of a labor organization may be forfeited under the civil forfeiture provisions of the Act.

An Introductory Examination Of The Racketeer Influenced And Corrupt Organizations Act,, David E. Morris

Akron Law Review

This comment will attempt to serve as an introduction to RICO, addressed to those with little or no knowledge of either its provisions and intricacies, or its potential usefulness and adaptability as a prosecution tool. The recent criticism of RICO by the American Bar Association will also be reviewed, as well as the ABA's proposed amendments to RICO. Finally, the state RICO statutes will be discussed. The advantages they offer states currently without any substantive laws dealing directly and primarily with organized and white-collar crime will be examined.

Northeast Women's Center, Inc. V. Mcmonagle: A Message To Poltical Activists, Jo Anne Pool

Akron Law Review

This note examines Northeast Women's Center, Inc v. McMonagle a successful civil RICO claim brought by an abortion clinic against antiabortion activists who "used force, threats of force, fear and violence in their efforts to force the clinic out of business " As a background to examining the case, this note will explore the RICO statute, the judicial extension of RICO, and the current congressional action concerning reform.

Analysis of Northeast reveals an emerging extension of civil RICO. Civil RICO is applied to curb unlawful political protest. Such an extension allows certain victims of domestic terrorism private recovery of damages. …

Civil Rico: The Legal Galaxy's Black Hole, Virginia M. Morgan

Akron Law Review

The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) statute' was enacted as part of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970. Congress passed it in response to a growing concern over the pervasive influence of organized crime in America? The statute contains both criminal penalties and civil sanctions, and civil RICO actions are available to both the government and to private individuals. It is a complex, powerful, and controversial law. In its private civil version, RICO is evolving into something quite different from the original conception of its enactors? It offers a federal forum and mandatory treble damages with attorneys fees …

National Organization For Women V. Scheidler: Rico A Valuable Tool For Controlling Violent Protest, Suzanne Wentzel

Akron Law Review

This Note will examine the recent decision of the United States Supreme Court in National Organization for Women v. Scheidler that allows courts to apply RICO to non-economic enterprises. This Note will first discuss the problems that arise from protest, as well as a brief historical background of the RICO statute. It will further analyze the legal reasoning behind the Supreme Court's decision to apply RICO to anti-abortion protesters, and explore the possible First Amendment implications of such a decision.

Racketeering After Morrison: Extraterritorial Application Of Civil Rico, Daniel Hoppe

Northwestern University Law Review

In Morrison v. National Australia Bank Ltd., the Supreme Court set forth a framework to identify the extraterritorial reach of a federal statute. The Supreme Court required that a statute demonstrate congressional intent to apply to extraterritorial conduct. Under this framework, federal courts have found that civil RICO does not apply to extraterritorial conduct. However, the courts have been inconsistent in their analysis of RICO under Morrison. Some courts have found that RICO does not apply to extraterritorial enterprises while others have found that RICO does not apply to extraterritorial conduct. But the courts have been consistent in …

Racking Up The Money: A Solution To The Ongoing Battle Between Rico And The Revenue Rule, Kye C. Handy

Global Business Law Review

The Revenue Rule, a common law rule from British court systems, prevents foreign countries from bringing claims in the United States to enforce or adjudicate tax claims that did not happen in the United States. The United States Supreme Court in Pasquantino v. United States held that Canada’s right to collect imported liquor taxes was not barred by the Revenue Rule. However, the Second Circuit in European Community v. RJR Nabisco Inc., ruled the European Union and Colombia could not recover lost tax money or enforcement costs from cigarette smuggling under RICO because of the Revenue Rule. The European Community …

The Mob And Ford Motor Company: The Seventh Circuit's Enterprising Approach To The Rico Double Jeopardy Problem, Rita Greggio

Seventh Circuit Review

Conspiracies that overlap in time, place, persons, and objectives are often charged under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, a complex statutory scheme that criminalizes the on-going and multifaceted activities of illicit enterprises like the mob. Such prosecutions, however, are particularly susceptible to double jeopardy claims. The Constitution's double jeopardy clause protects defendants from multiple prosecutions or punishments for the same offense. Although the Supreme Court has held that this constitutional protection is a fundamental right, courts have struggled to establish guidelines for determining the parameters of the term "same offense." This struggle is at the heart of …

Individual Autonomy Versus Community: Is It All Or Nothing? An Analysis Of City Of Chicago V. Morales , Keasa Hollister

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Virtual Or Reality: Prosecutorial Practices In Cyber Child Pornography Ring Cases, Michal Gilad

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

With the rising use of the Internet over the past decade, the boundaries between our physical space and cyberspace are quickly fading. The Internet has become an integral and inseparable part of modern being, and its dominance in our lives is undeniable. Actions taken online are no longer a mere virtual fantasy, but directly relate to our “offline” everyday living. Modern criminal trends also demonstrate the strong link betweenthe virtual and physical worlds.

Dysfunction Junction: Should The Courts Rethink The Functional Approach To Legislative Immunity For State Officials?, Matthew D. Savin

Seventh Circuit Review

A state legislative immunity doctrine that affords greater protection from civil liability than the federal common law doctrine clearly interferes with federal law. At first glance, a state's decision to afford less protection than offered under federal law might not appear to interfere with the federal interest in administering federal law, but Supreme Court precedent and public policy considerations still prohibit the abrogation of federal legislative immunity as it pertains to state officials.

The potential conflict between state and federal legislative immunity was addressed in Empress Casino Corp. v. Blagojevich, where the Seventh Circuit discussed whether former Gov. Rod …

Life After Morrison: Extraterritoriality And Rico, R. D. Mello

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

For years, the federal courts of appeals have borrowed heavily from securities law jurisprudence in developing a framework for analyzing claims under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). Last year, in the case of Morrison v. National Australia Bank, the Supreme Court issued a ground-breaking opinion that rejected decades of lower court precedent related to the extraterritorial application of U.S. securities laws and reemphasized the vitality of the presumption against extraterritoriality. Because of the parallel development of securities law and RICO jurisprudence, Morrison will have significant consequences for the application of RICO in cases involving foreign defendants and …

Political Gangsters: The Future Of Racketeering Law In Politics Note, Jillian Henzler

Cleveland State Law Review

Racketeering law and election restrictions are two areas of law that are not typically connected. Previous to the landmark decision in Citizens United, the chances of finding racketeering within election law were probably very slim.The corruption created by this new ruling is a fear that the government has been trying to combat for over a century. Not only will the effects of this new rule increase the appearance of corruption, this corruption may rise to a criminal level if racketeering action actually takes place. The ever-changing and expanding definition of racketeering under the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act shows …

Rico Conspiracy: The Ninth Circuit Distinguishes Itself From The Rising Costs Of Guilty Thoughts, Stephanie Profitt

Golden Gate University Law Review

Part I of this Comment briefly surveys the legislative development of the RICO statute. It discusses the elements of a RICO cause of action and disputes that have arisen among the circuit courts over its interpretation. Part II of this Comment examines the development of civil liability for conspiring to participate in a RICO enterprise. It focuses on cases that have significantly shaped civil RICO conspiracy liability throughout the circuit courts. Part III explores the split that has developed among the circuits over the definition of RICO conspiracy liability, specifically, the difference between the Ninth Circuit's definition and that of …

Structural Strength: Resolving A Circuit Split In Boyle V. United States With A Pragmatic Proof Requirement For Rico Associated-In-Fact Enterprises, Michael Morrissey

Fordham Law Review

This Note addresses the circuit split among the U.S. Courts of Appeals over whether proving an associated-in-fact RICO enterprise requires proof of some ascertainable structure distinct from the underlying pattern of racketeering. After discussing the history of RICO and RICO enterprises, this Note dissects the three-way circuit split and details the facts and positions of Boyle v. United States. Finally, this Note argues that the U.S. Supreme Court needs to resolve the split with the common-sense position that some ascertainable-structure proof requirement is needed—although the enterprise need not have a purpose distinct from the pattern of racketeering—to balance the potential …

Rico Overreach: How The Federal Government's Escalating Offensive Against Gangs Has Run Afoul Of The Constitution, Matthew H. Blumenstein

Vanderbilt Law Review

The United States has a problem with gangs. According to the Department of Justice, there are more than twenty thousand gangs in the United States today, with over one million members. There are gangs in every state and in the District of Columbia. This is a dire problem in the eyes of federal government officials. According to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, "Gangs threaten our society .... They bring a culture of violence and drugs to our doorsteps, creating an atmosphere of fear, diminishing the quality of life, and endangering the safety, well-being, and future of our children." In response, the …