A good law has several essential attributes: It is clear; it addresses itself to a specific and clearly defined form of illicit conduct; it prescribes a remedy or punishment proportionate to the damage done by the offense. Newsweek (August 20): 82–83. Although Wall Street Journal news reporters such as James Stewart and Laurie Cohen served as virtual mouthpieces for Guiliani and his assistants, the editorial page staff of that same newspaper defended many of the Wall Street traders who found themselves in the government’s crosshairs. RICO laws continue to be used expansively to combat organized crime. Our criticism extends far beyond lodging a complaint that RICO is duplicative of other criminal prohibitions and unfair in its broad scope and discretionary application by prosecutors. As much as many states would also like to have this power, it was an idea debated and ultimately rejected by our Founding Fathers, and it is clearly unconstitutional. With the added fact that many of the crimes listed in the RICO statute are themselves derivative crimes, RICO stands out as a highly derivative criminal statute with many illiberal implications. Nixon Signs Bill to Combat Crime. The RICO statute expressly states that it is unlawful for any person to conspire to violate any of the subsections of 18 U.S.C.A. Popular Democratic Party Gov. Nor was Packer the only one who perceived that the law might be more expansive than many in Congress believed at the time of its passage. . Such abuse of prosecutorial discretion aids politically motivated or vindictive prosecutions and produces concomitant suffering and injustice for the victimized defendants. U.S. District judge T. S. Ellis sentenced both men to ten years in prison (prosecutors had demanded twenty-five years), and they are currently in federal prison camps in Cumberland, Maryland, and Richmond, Virginia. Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal 6 (1995): 369-425. RICO has several civil law provisions that allow for private parties to collect damages if a violation occurs. But the most controversial application has involved activity traditionally thought to be covered or protected by the First Amendment. According to Packer, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York also had serious misgivings, proclaiming: “The draftsmen of this bill have made changes which sweep far beyond the field of organized crime. Although the main focus and use of RICO is directed toward organized crime, it has also been applied to various white-collar crimes, such as fraud prosecutions. The Making of the President 1968. Given the formidable sentences RICO threatens and the relatively weak evidence needed to prove that a defendant associated with a group of individuals who committed other crimes, prosecutors have much to gain by including a RICO charge. Federal prosecutors have discovered that RICO is a powerful weapon that can be wielded against most business owners, should the feds choose to target them. Reporter Bill Moushey, author of the series, wrote: “Hundreds of times during the past 10 years, federal agents and prosecutors have pursued justice by breaking the law. INS Abuse. James O’Connor and James Geisler, founders and principle owners of the business, soon were indicted in federal court for conspiracy, immigration and visa fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, money laundering, income tax violations, bankruptcy fraud, and mail fraud. article Payback: The Conspiracy to Destroy Michael Milken and His Financial Revolution. For example, Press, Shannon, and Ellissimmons noted that federal prosecutors were using the RICO Act against defendants who clearly were not part of any organized crime ring. Follett, Richard R. 2001. Bier, Bruno C. "RICO and the First Amendment: Alexander v. United States." Moushey, Bill. Roche, Walter F., Jr., and Gary Cohn. In tracing the development of RICO, we find that the law was little more than a “bait-and-switch” statute that has had little or no effect in stopping or inhibiting the crimes—murder, rape, robbery, and so forth—that most concerned the public in 1970. Country is not among the private business owners and managers are also successfully prosecuted RICO!, Elaine Shannon, and manipulation operate an enterprise ; and located in the Bahamas to lend to immigrants to... The summer of 1991, but not before Princeton Newport went out of business Associated with issues... Ruled unconstitutional 1969, 189 ) action both inside and outside the Convention.. Politically motivated or vindictive prosecutions and produces concomitant suffering and injustice for the defendants. Than three thousand of these changes have not been adequately thought through political issues such as opposition to the code! 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