Posner v. United States

How later courts describe this case

• noting that other courts had dealt with the issue, the Court declined defendant’s invitation to re-consider the constitutionality of RICO
• setting forth standards for determining “[wjhether a congressionally generated document has become an agency record”
• permitting the inclusion of a group of corporations as an enterprise even though a group of corporations is not a group of individuals associated-in-faet within the meaning of the definition of enterprise
• affirming under Exemption 3 district judge’s decision based upon Exemption l
• in view of the broad construction of RICO, a group of corporations can form an enterprise
• “RICO poses a danger of abuse [through] attempts to apply the statute to situations for which it was not primarily intended.”
• RICO criminal forfeiture statute which keys forfeiture to the magnitude of a defendant's criminal enterprise, does not violate eighth amendment's proportionality requirement
• for Eighth Amendment purposes, “there is no substantial difference between an in rem proceeding and a[n in personam criminal] forfeiture proceeding brought directly against the owner”