Putting the Genie Back in the Bottle: Why the Use and Expansion of RICO is Bad w/Martin Sabelli

Aug 30

Today, Hunter is once again joined by former NACDL President Martin Sabelli to discuss the criminal charge that everyone is talking about, RICO. As with many laws on the books, RICO started out designed to target a specific group of people: leadership of the Mafia. Also like many laws on the books, it was written in such an ambiguous and wide manner that prosecutors could use it far beyond its intended purpose. Over the years, RICO has been used against targets never intended or envisioned by those who originally supported the law, and today’s episode is all about understanding how that happened, why it happened, and what, if anything, we can do to try and stop the creative and expansive use of a law that infringes on the rights of people every time a prosecutor decides to be “creative” with its use of RICO.

Guests:

Martin Sabelli, Former President of NACDL and longtime Federal Criminal Defense Attorney

Resources:

Resources on RICO Cases

1st Amendment and RICO

https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1237/rico-laws

Issues with RICO

https://sites.law.duq.edu/juris/2021/11/17/the-checkered-past-and-present-of-the-rico-act/

Fani Willis Prosecution of Teachers

https://theappeal.org/atlanta-cheating-prosecutions-fani-willis-rico/

Issues with RICO

https://www.independent.org/publications/TIR/article.asp?id=215