NCJ Number
113423
Journal
Trial Volume: 24 Issue: 9 Dated: (September 1988) Pages: 52-55
Date Published
1988
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Criminal forfeiture provisions under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) have been litigated for 10 years, but it is not yet clear how those provisions should apply to businesses.
Abstract
RICO forfeiture provisions forfeit capital interests in corporations and partnerships. Currently, RICO provisions can be interpreted to authorize forfeiture of a defendant's entire enterprise regardless of the amount of illicit profits or the seriousness of the crime. Under existing case law, a Federal district court has no statutory base or discretion to calibrate the enterprise interest forfeiture and thus, a defendant's interest could be forfeited even though racketeering played only a small part in acquiring or maintaining that interest. Courts have observed in dicta that disproportionately large RICO forfeitures constituted cruel and unusual punishment under the eighth amendment. The challenge for Congress and the courts is to devise a statutory or constitutional method by which the most serious RICO sanctions are applied only to the most serious crimes. 25 footnotes.