Civil RICO

Book Synopsis: THIS CASEBOOK contains a selection of U. S. Court of Appeals decisions that analyze and discuss issues surrounding civil RICO claims. The selection of decisions spans from 2014 to the date of publication. RICO "created a new civil cause of action for '[a]ny person injured in his business or property by reason of a violation of [its] prohibitions.'" RJR Nabisco, Inc. v. European Cmty., ___ U.S. ___, 136 S. Ct. 2090, 2096 (2016) (alteration in original) (quoting 18 U.S.C. § 1964(c)). That is, RICO vests a private citizen with substantive rights to avoid "injur[ies]" to "his business or property" caused by a pattern of racketeering activity, and it explicitly creates a federal cause of action to vindicate those federal rights. 18 U.S.C. § 1964(c). To maintain a cause of action under § 1964(c), a plaintiff must plead and ultimately prove: (1) that the defendant violated § 1962; (2) that the plaintiff's business or property was injured; and (3) that the defendant's violation is the cause of that injury. Id.; see RJR, 136 S. Ct. at 2096-97. Safe Streets Alliance v. Hickenlooper, (10th Cir. 2017).

Congress has determined that "[i]t shall be unlawful for any person employed by or associated with any enterprise engaged in, or the activities of which affect, interstate or foreign commerce, to conduct or participate, directly or indirectly, in the conduct of such enterprise's affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity . . . ." 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c). Said more succinctly, § 1962(c) "makes it unlawful for a person employed by or associated with an enterprise to conduct the enterprise's affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity." RJR, 136 S. Ct. at 2097. We have held that a plaintiff asserting a § 1964(c) claim for a violation of § 1962(c) "must plausibly allege that" the defendants "each (1) conducted the affairs (2) of an enterprise (3) through a pattern (4) of racketeering activity." George, 833 F.3d at 1248 (citing 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c); Robbins v. Wilkie, 300 F.3d 1208, 1210 (10th Cir. 2002)). Safe Streets Alliance v. Hickenlooper, ibid.

"RICO is founded on the concept of racketeering activity. The statute defines 'racketeering activity' to encompass dozens of state and federal offenses, known in RICO parlance as predicates. These predicates include any act 'indictable' under specified federal statutes," and among them is "drug-related activity that is 'punishable' under federal law." RJR, 136 S. Ct. at 2096 (quoting 18 U.S.C. § 1961(1)(D)). Safe Streets Alliance v. Hickenlooper, ibid.