The Weakening of RICO’s Remedies Provision: Analysis of the Appeals Court’s Decision in USA v. Philip Morris USA, Inc., et al.

This white paper analyzes the equitable remedies provision of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”) as it was interpreted by both the trial and appeals courts in the Department of Justice’s civil RICO case against the major United States cigarette manufacturers. It demonstrates how the appeals court’s decision, which bound the trial court, severely affected the remedies that could be ordered in that case — despite the judge’s conclusion that the defendants are racketeers. It argues that RICO’s equitable remedies provision needs to be clarified and strengthened so that it can be used most effectively to promote public health.

doj, remedies, RICO

Mark Gottlieb

Mark Gottlieb joined the staff of the Public Health Advocacy Institute in 1993 after graduating from Northeastern University School of Law. His efforts have focused on researching tobacco litigation as a public health strategy as director of the Tobacco Products Liability Project, reducing the harm caused by secondhand tobacco smoke through a variety of legal and policy approaches, fostering scholarship using tobacco industry documents, and, more recently, examining legal and policy approaches to address obesity. He is the Executive Director of the Institute and lives in Cambridge, MA with his wife and three children.

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The Weakening of RICO’s Remedies Provision: Analysis of the Appeals Court’s Decision in USA v. Philip Morris USA, Inc., et al.

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Mark Gottlieb