subject: Anti-racketeering Act: Preventing Racketeering At All Levels With Increasing Use In Civil Cases [print this page] Hobbs Anti-Racketeering Act (1946) came as a revision of Anti-Racketeering Act (1934). The R.I.C.O or the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act is an US Federal law. It is a part of the Organized Crime Control Act (1970) and is codified in section 901(a), chapter-96, Title-18 of US code. It was basically created for preventing the mafia and similar type of organized syndicates.
Racketeering in simple words can be terms as running an illegal business or scheme for the purpose of making profit. Now days the application of the act is not limited to mafia only. There can be several acts of racketeering:-
Bottle legging;
Counterfeiting of currency notes, passports and other legal documents;
Prostitution;
Drug trafficking;
Money laundering;
Extortion;
Bribery;
Sexual exploitation of children;
Illegal gambling;
Mail frauds,
Dealing in controlled substance or any such type of chemical without government approval.
It has been seen by experts that the people engaged in this type of activities take cover behind legitimate business. For example- a licensed gaming organization, etc. This crime is prosecuted at federal level.
Labor racketeering is particularly destructive for the economy. This is because labors are denied their legitimate dues; this in turn results increased costs and damage to the entire industry. It also affects the consumers. Labors are also consumers who if affected will also contribute to the damage of the economy. Labor racketeers try to target-
Health;
Welfare;
Pensions, etc.
This if controlled will result in a multi-million dollar scam. In 1950s Federal Bureau of Investigation has made significant breakthroughs in checking labor racketeering by the mafia. It has not overlooked the civil cases too. This is because there is a need to keep a provision where victims of this offense can get justice.
The act is equally applicable to all the states in the mainland as well as areas such as Puerto Rico, Guam, etc. In matters of passing judgment, there is a directive by the U.S. Supreme Court to all federal courts to follow continuity-plus-relationship test.
This test will help in determination of a vicious pattern if any in majority of cases. In the state of Illinois there has been considerable debate for the introduction of R.I.C.O style state level legislation. The lawyers and executive wing has heavily depended in the past on federal R.I.C.O. act, in cases like- Latin Kings (street gang). This is due to the growing political corruption in the stat which involved as reports in newspapers like Chicago Tribune flashed. Glenn Lewellen, an officer from 1986-2002 batch, had been charged under the RICO act.
In case you are victim in Chicago it is advisable to approach a Chicago Business Lawyer specializing in this domain of law.
There are very few online lawyer resources that can provide genuine information on Allentown based lawyers or law firms. Allentown Lawyer directory is one among those resources having the details of all the reputed lawyers based in Allentown.
