Prosecutor Misuse of RICO Laws Should End

Jacksonville area prosecutors are abusing RICO laws to wring guilty pleas out of innocent people and petty criminals afraid of spending decades in prison for crimes they didn't commit.

2011-01-22

January 22, 2011 (Press-News.org) There's a festering problem in Florida's criminal justice system: some state prosecutors are misusing our state's racketeering laws to wring guilty pleas out of innocent people and petty criminals afraid of spending decades in prison for crimes they didn't commit.

Abuse is rampant of Florida's version of the federal government's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act; known more commonly by its acronym, RICO.

The federal version was created 40 years ago to fight the Mafia and the businesses and labor unions it controlled. Today in Jacksonville and elsewhere in Florida, prosecutors are attempting to use RICO laws to crush gangs. While gang-eradication is a worthwhile goal, the methods used to achieve it aren't so admirable.

People who are guilty of no more than knowing a gang member are being charged with racketeering -- being part of a criminal organization -- in order to get them to testify against friends or loved ones who might genuinely be guilty of criminal activities. These friends and family members face decades in prison if convicted under RICO laws. Rather than take their chances on justice, many come to plea agreements in which they take a few painful years in prison in exchange for their testimony.

In other cases, people who might be guilty of minor infractions or petty crimes are being charged with racketeering, again facing decades in prison if convicted. Additionally, many of the people being charged are not associated with any known gang members. Simply living in a neighborhood that contains gang activity should not implicate citizens in involvement with a gang or participation in gang crime.

A big problem with the method being used in Florida is that people who face decades in prison will say just about anything in order to avoid such a severe penalty. In many cases, they will tell lies in order to serve a couple of years in jail rather than face the possibility of going to trial with a sentence of 20 or 30 years or more on the line.

Justice isn't served when people commit perjury in order to avoid decades of prison after being unfairly accused of participating in organized crime.

Florida has tough anti-gang laws on the books now (example: someone convicted of being a gang leader can face life in prison). People convicted under these laws face enhanced penalties for their crimes and forfeiture of property and assets acquired during criminal activities.

Prosecutors in Jacksonville and around the state of Florida should stop abusing RICO laws to threaten innocent people, petty criminals and others uninvolved in gang activities.

For more information about the method currently being used by prosecutors, RICO laws and how you may be affected, please speak to a Florida criminal defense attorney.

Article provided by Arnold & New Law Firm
Visit us at www.arnoldlawfirmllc.com

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

High-Level Drunken Drivers Facing Stiffer Penalties

2011-01-22

In a new campaign, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is cracking down on drunk drivers who pose a higher risk. These drivers fall into one of two categories: - Those with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .15 percent or more - Those who have a prior DUI/DWI arrest in the past 10 years NTSB data estimates that up to 70 percent of all alcohol-related car accident fatalities involved these types of drivers. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) provides more insight: roughly 8,000 of the nearly 11,000 road deaths last year were ...

Federal Safety Agency Proposes Back-up Camera Requirement for Passenger Vehicles

2011-01-22

Accidents that kill or injure very young children are particularly troubling. Children who are not yet school age are highly vulnerable to all sorts of dangers -- including being run over by a car that is backing up. The federal data on the prevalence of back-up car accidents is eye-opening. According to estimates by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 228 people are killed in car accidents each year and 17,000 people are injured. The agency's data indicates that almost half of these deaths -- about 100 -- are of children under 5 years old. Children ...

South Carolina Nursing Home Abuse Update: Bed Sores Can Be Deadly

2011-01-22

Elderly and infirm residents are made more vulnerable if the facilities they inhabit are made unsafe by nursing home negligence. Medication errors, abusive employees and inadequate security can all cause immediate injuries and other harm to people who most deserve society's protection. In some cases, the harm takes longer to develop. Nursing home malnutrition may take months to detect and respond to if staff fails to heed subtle signs of inadequate food intake or physical decline. Other evidence of nursing home mistreatment includes bed sores, which can develop as a ...

Afford Your Divorce - Quick, Easy and Painless

2011-01-22

Everyone has read stories about a divorce that is spiraling out of control, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars as the couple fights over every single thing. Custody of the children, spousal support and property division can be extremely expensive and time-consuming if the parties are focused on going to court. Parties who can resolve these issues on their own can remove most of the stress from the process while saving those thousands of dollars. Many divorces involve issues which need attention. Perhaps the most difficult aspect of any divorce is the child custody ...

Seeing Red in South Florida: Cameras at Intersections Are No Substitute for Fair Hearings

2011-01-22

In Florida, red light cameras have been used since 2008 to enforce traffic laws at intersections 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In practice, red light cameras create difficult legal issues and unfair outcomes; for example, notices of infraction are mailed to the registered owner's vehicle whether or not the owner was driving, meaning that the registered owner is held responsible for the ticket regardless of guilt--and if the registered owner fails to pay the ticket within 30 days from when it was mailed, the notice becomes a bonafide traffic citation with license ...

Workers' Compensation: Exclusive Remedy for Employees?

2011-01-22

Certain employees can face the potential for serious injury every time they go into work. At a construction site, many different occupations are present, and any mistake can have severe consequences. When an injury happens, employees may not know what remedies are available to them, or how to begin the process of recovering compensation for their injuries. New Jersey Workers' Compensation System For those injured on the job in New Jersey, the legislature has set up the workers' compensation system to provide a way for employees to recover compensation quickly for ...

Updates in 2011 to Florida Child Support Guidelines

2011-01-22

At the close of Florida's 2010 legislative session, a comprehensive bill aimed at revamping the state's child support and alimony schemes was passed. The new changes did not go into effect immediately, however. Instead, target dates were set, determining when each set of updates to the family law code would take effect. The alimony provisions and certain aspects of the child support statute have already been tested to an extent: they went into effect in July and October of 2010, respectively. However, several significant changes to Florida's child support guidelines only ...

Saving Lives With Electronic Stability Control Systems

2011-01-22

While safety features like airbags and anti-lock brakes come standard on many vehicles, one of the most beneficial safety systems is still lacking on some vehicles. Electronic stability control systems (ESC) help drivers maintain control of the vehicle. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, ESC systems use sensors to detect the speed and direction of the wheels. During a turn, if the car drifts in a direction different from the orientation of the wheels, the system can reduce acceleration and brake individual wheels to help the driver regain control ...

Latino Workers at Higher Risk for Fatal Construction Accidents

2011-01-22

Recent Tragic Queens Construction Accident Illustrates Problem Just days ago, a job-site accident in Queens tragically killed a young, Latino construction worker. The 26-year-old man was helping construct a 65-foot wall when the cinder-block wall suddenly collapsed, killing him and seriously injuring three others. Early reports indicate that the wall failed as scaffolding collapsed and fell onto the wall. Sadly, the victim was a father, survived by his pregnant wife and two children. The Queens construction accident is still under investigation, but presumably there ...

Trucking Industry Resistant to Proposed Safety Regulations

2011-01-22

Safety on the road is a pressing concern for almost all Americans. Considering the sheer volume of large trucks and other commercial carriers populating the nation's highways, the federal regulations governing operators could vastly impact any driver or passenger. Everyone wants the highways to be safer for both motorists and commercial truck drivers, so one might think newly proposed trucking safety regulations would be universally praised. Yet, new trucking regulations proposed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) meant to allay certain safety ...

Prosecutor Misuse of RICO Laws Should End

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: