Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1982

Publication Information

58 Notre Dame L. Rev. 237 (1982-1983)

Abstract

In Bennett v. Berg, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, as a matter of "first impression in the Circuit Courts of Appeals," faced and resolved a number of significant issues in the construction of Title IX, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (hereinafter "RICO") provisions of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970. In Bennett, the plaintiffs, residents in a "life care" retirement village, sought treble damages and equitable relief under 18 U.S.C. § 1964 from a number of defendants, including named individuals, a not-for-profit corporation, the John Knox Village, attorneys, accountants, the firm of Snyder, Ernst & Muehling, and the Prudential Life Insurance Company, a mortgage lender. The district court dismissed the complaint, and an appeal was taken.

The court of appeals reversed in part and affirmed in part the district court's dismissal of the complaint. Because the Bennett court's decision represents the first comprehensive effort by a court of appeals to treat a number of important issues regarding the construction of RICO in the context of civil litigation, it merits extended comment. Before examining the court of appeals opinion in that case, however, this article will discuss the facts of the case, the text of RICO, the legislative history of RICO, and the jurisprudence under RICO.

Comments

Reprinted with permission of the Notre Dame Law Review.

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