Supreme Court Docket Report – 2005 Term, No. 7

Originally published December 12, 2005

Recently the Supreme Court granted certiorari in one case of interest to the business community. Barring extensions, amicus briefs in support of the petitioner will be due on January 26, 2006, and amicus briefs in support of the respondent will be due on March 2, 2006.

Civil RICO—Definition of "Enterprise."

RICO, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, makes it a crime for "any person employed by or associated with any enterprise engaged in * * * interstate or foreign commerce, to conduct or participate * * * in the conduct of such enterprise’s affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity." 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c). Section 1964(c) of the Act authorizes "[a]ny person injured in his business or property by reason of a violation of section 1962" to bring a civil action under RICO. Plaintiffs bringing a RICO claim must plead the existence of "two distinct entities: (1) a ‘person’; and (2) an ‘enterprise’ that is not simply the