Crime Legislation and the Public Interest: Lessons from Civil RICO

This Securities Symposium provides an opportunity to evaluate civil RICO\u27s place in American law at the end of the private remedy\u27s 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