USSC lost its juice? So says a study in the NYT

Seven years later . . .

. . . we are worried about the cost of discovery. We'll show those terrorists that they cannot stop the commercial juggernaut that is the United States.

Municipalities may sue under RICO

Smoke 'em if you got 'em because in City of New York v. Smokes-Spirits.com, Inc., the 2d Circuit held that NYC could sue a cigarette retailer under RICO for helping customers avoid paying taxes. The court rejected dicta from Town of West Hartford v. Operation Rescue, 915 F.2d 92, 103-04 (2d Cir. 1990), which suggested that a municipality had to suffer injury to its "business or property" through a commercial transaction in order to have standing under RICO. Not so says the Smokes-Spirits court, which held that lost taxes constitutes for RICO purposes.

Municipalities should take a second look at potential RICO defendants.