Can RICO be used to prosecute members of terrorist groups, like Al-quada?
Under most circumstances, terrorist organizations could be prosecuted under RICO. Legally speaking, there is little difference between gunning down 5 members of a rival Mafia family and gunning down 5 innocent tourists in an airport concourse. Every time a bomb explodes, it is an act of arson, so a series of bombings over a period of months or years could constitute a pattern of arson, i.e., a pattern of racketeering. Likewise, every time a plane crashes into a building, it is an act of arson and thousands of acts of murder. RICO would be a good way to convict an individual like Osama bin Laden, who basically acts as the “Godfather” of the terrorist group. Bin Laden did not personally fly any planes into the World Trade Center but, one could allege that bin Laden operated and managed a criminal enterprise (i.e., an association in fact enterprise consisting of the pilots who flew the planes and the persons who provided financial and logistical support) that engaged in a pattern of racke
