Sidebar: Mother of mercy! What the hell is RICO?

The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, otherwise known as RICO. It’s famous as the law used to take down organized crime, with then-U.S. Attorney Rudy Giuliani bringing the Mafia Commission Trial in the 1980s after indicting nine high-level organized crime figures, including the heads of New York’s “Five Families.”

But that’s not the only time it comes up in court. It’s been used in criminal court to go after motorcycle clubs, wealthy investors, the Key West Police Department in Florida, R&B singer R. Kelly and even President Donald Trump, but also in civil cases, like against Big Tobacco and sex abuse claims against the Catholic Church.

RICO is the subject of our second episode this season: What it is, what it isn’t and why it’s used so much in one particular state.

Special guests:

• George Anastasia, former Philadelphia Inquirer crime reporter
• Jeff Grell, an attorney and lecturer at the University of Minnesota Law School
• Eric Seidel, former deputy attorney general in charge of New York’s Organized Crime Task Force
• Joe Lancaster, an assistant editor at Reason

Sidebar tackles the top stories you need to know from the legal world. Join reporters Hillel Aron, Kirk McDaniel, Amanda Pampuro, Kelsey Reichmann and Josh Russell as they take you in and out of courtrooms in the U.S. and beyond and break down developments to help you understand how they affect your day-to-day life.

This episode was produced by Kirk McDaniel. Intro music by The Dead Pens. A transcript is available.

Editorial staff is Ryan Abbott, Sean Duffy and Jamie Ross.

More on RICO in the courts:

• Georgia appeals court declines to toss RICO charges against ‘Cop City’ protester
• Ex-Mormons urge court to focus on facts, not faith, seeking third RICO suit against church leaders
• Illinois racetrack, state racing board face RICO claims over dead horses