Crime Legislation and the Public Interest: Lessons from Civil RICO

Authors

Douglas E. Abrams, University of Missouri School of LawFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Fall 1996

Abstract

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‘ rhetoric from the President and Congress alike.

Recommended Citation

Douglas E. Abrams, Crime Legislation and the Public Interest: Lessons from Civil Rico, 50 SMU L. Rev. 33 (1996)