ABSTRACT
Both the judicial and legislature have had disputes in dešning organized crime. In 1967, the Administration of Justice dešned organized crime as “a society that seeks to operate outside the control of the American people and their government. It involves thousands of criminals, working within structures as large as those of any corporation.” ‚e McClellan Committee, following highly publicized investigations, increased public awareness of organized crime as a pervasive social force and prompted federal legislative action. However, they did not su¦ciently emphasize the importance and roles of groups other than the La Cosa Nostra in American organized crime. In 1968, Congress passed into law the šrst major organized crime bill, ‚e Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act. ‚is act dešned organized crime as the unlawful activities of the members of a highly organized, disciplined association engaged in supplying illegal goods and services, including but not limited to gambling, prostitution, loan-sharking, narcotics, labor racketeering, and other unlawful activities. In 1970, Congress passed the Racketeer In²uenced and Corrupt Organizations Statute (RICO), which has become the centerpiece of federal law proscribing organized criminal activity. RICO dešnes racketeering activity as any act or threat involving murder, kidnapping, gambling, arson, robbery, bribery, extortion, or dealing in narcotic or dangerous drugs, and other denominated crime. A pattern of racketeering requires at least two acts of racketeering activity.
