Elkins, “A Paradox in the Concept of Law”
19
sanctions and new remedies to deal with the unlawful activities of those engaged in organized
crime.”
17
In pursuit of these ends, the Act included a chapter dealing with “Racketeer Influenced
and Corrupt Organizations.” RICO defines a list of “racketeering activit[ies]” in reference to certain
state and federal laws, including federal laws against sports bribery, counterfeiting, embezzlement
from pension funds, tampering with witnesses, certain interstate transportation of wagering
paraphernalia, money laundering, murder-for-hire, and mail and wire fraud. RICO makes it
illegal for any person who has engaged in a pattern of racketeering activity (defined as two
violations of the underlying acts within a ten-year period) to invest in, or have an interest in, any
interstate enterprise, and makes it illegal for an interstate enterprise to engage in a pattern of
racketeering activity. RICO provides for both criminal penalties and for civil actions, including
treble damages and attorneys fees for injuries suffered from a violation of the act.
18
Since the passage of RICO, civil RICO actions have been brought, not only against (what
would normally be thought of as) “organized crime,” but by, to take just a few examples, victims
of an investment scam, property owners against manufacturers of the asbestos used in their
homes, and the National Organization of Women against the leaders of anti-abortion groups who,
it was alleged, conspired to use force to shut down abortion clinics. Some lower courts rejected
such “garden variety” suits on the grounds that they do not fall within the general and ordinary
understanding of racketeering. As one court put it before dismissing a RICO claim:
[The treble damage provision of RICO] has not proved particularly useful for generating
17
Pub.L. 91-452.
18
Codified as 18 U.S.C. § §1961-1964.
Convention