Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act

Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
Long title	An Act relating to the control of organized crime in the United States
Acronyms (colloquial)	OCCA; RICO;
Nicknames	Organized Crime Control Act of 1970
Enacted by	the 91st United States Congress
Effective	October 15, 1970
Citations
Public law	91-452
Statutes at Large	84 Stat. 922-3 aka 84 Stat. 941
Codification
Titles amended	18 U.S.C.: Crimes and Criminal Procedure
U.S.C. sections created	18 U.S.C. §§ 1961–1968
Legislative history
	Introduced in the Senate as S. 30 by John L. McClellan (D–AR); Passed the Senate on January 23, 1970 (74-1); Passed the House on October 7, 1970 (341-26); Signed into law by President Richard Nixon on October 15, 1970;
United States Supreme Court cases
	United States v. Turkette, 452 U.S. 576 (1981); Russello v. United States, 464 U.S. 16 (1983); Sedima, SP RL v. Imrex Co., 473 U.S. 479 (1985); American Nat. Bank & Trust Co. of Chicago v. Haroco, Inc., 473 U.S. 606 (1985); Shearson/American Express Inc. v. McMahon, 482 U.S. 220 (1987); Agency Holding Corp. v. Malley-Duff & Associates, Inc., 483 U.S. 143 (1987); H.J. Inc. v. Northwestern Bell Tel. Co., 492 U.S. 229 (1989); Tafflin v. Levitt, 493 U.S. 455 (1990); Holmes v. Securities Investor Protection Corporation, 503 U.S. 258 (1992); Reves v. Ernst & Young, 507 U.S. 170 (1993); Alexander v. United States, 509 U.S. 544 (1993); National Organization for Women v. Scheidler, 510 U.S. 249 (1994); United States v. Robertson, 514 U.S. 669 (1995); Klehr v. A. O. Smith Corp., 521 U.S. 179 (1997); Salinas v. United States, 522 U.S. 52 (1997); Humana Inc. v. Forsyth, 525 U.S. 299 (1999); Rotella v. Wood, 528 U.S. 549 (2000); Beck v. Prupis, 529 U.S. 494 (2000); Cedric Kushner Promotions, Ltd. v. King, 533 U.S. 158 (2001); Scheidler v. National Organization for Women, 537 U.S. 393 (2003); PacifiCare Health Systems, Inc. v. Book, 538 U.S. 401 (2003); Anza v. Ideal Steel Supply Corp., 547 U.S. 451 (2006); Mohawk Industries, Inc. v. Williams, 547 U.S. 516 (2006); Scheidler v. National Organization for Women, 547 U.S. 9 (2006); Wilkie v. Robbins, 551 U.S. 537 (2007); Bridge v. Phoenix Bond & Indem. Co., 553 U.S. 639 (2008); Carlsbad Technology, Inc. v. HIF Bio, Inc., 556 U.S. 635 (2009); Boyle v. United States, 556 U.S. 938 (2009); Hemi Group, LLC v. City of New York, 559 U.S. 1 (2010); RJR Nabisco, Inc. v. European Community, No. 15-138, 579 U.S. ___ (2016); Yegiazaryan v. Smagin, No. 22-381, 599 U.S. ___ (2023); Medical Marijuana, Inc. v. Horn, No. 23-365, 603 U.S. ___ (2025);

The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization.

RICO was enacted by Title IX of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970 (Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 91–452, 84 Stat. 922, enacted October 15, 1970), and is codified at 18 U.S.C. ch. 96 as 18 U.S.C. §§ 1961–1968.

This article primarily covers the federal criminal statute, but since 1972, 33 U.S. states and territories have adopted state RICO laws, which although similar, cover additional state crimes and may differ from the federal law and each other in several respects.