The Law That Ate All Common Sense : Motorist uses RICO statute against traffic cops for operating a speed trap!

It has long been recognized in legal circles that the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, is too broad and vague.

Now an Orange County lawyer, upset over three speeding citations, is turning the statute on its head. His lawsuit against Huntington Beach points up once again that Congress needs to repeal RICO.

Lawyer Ernest J. Franceschi Jr. beat the tickets in court and then sued Huntington Beach under RICO for $60 million in damages. He alleged that the city misused its authority and extorted money from unsuspecting drivers by operating an illegal “speed trap” on the Pacific Coast Highway, between Warner Avenue and Main Street. U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson, in a ruling made public this week, upheld Franceschi’s right to sue under this novel application of the RICO statute.

A speed trap, by the way, is defined under state law as a portion of a highway where radar enforcement is used and which has a speed limit not justified by an engineering and traffic survey made within the last five years. That’s important to the lawsuit because Franceschi alleged that the city has not completed such a survey and thus is “a racketeer” for operating an illegal speed trap.

RICO, adopted in 1970, was born of the frustration of trying to put mobsters out of business. It gives federal prosecutors powerful tools to construe certain activities as patterns of illegal behavior--conspiracies, in effect. It also provides for severe penalties that have become powerful instruments of government coercion.

Its loose language, however, has been employed in a wide variety of prosecutions far outside its original intent. Among the targets: Chicago commodity brokers, anti-abortion groups, Los Angeles slumlords and Wall Street financiers, including Drexel Burnham Lambert’s high-stakes securities king Michael Milken.

Along the way, uses of RICO have trampled heavily on such safeguards as due process. They also have been criticized widely for leading to prison sentences and forfeiture penalties far in excess of what is fair.

Now a judge says RICO can be applied to city traffic cops. What an absurd use of a poorly drafted law. And Huntington Beach taxpayers are sure to be unhappy about the unnecessary time and money it will take to defend the city.

Franceschi’s initial legal victory may provide vicarious glee for motorists who feel unfairly cited. But it’s a cheap thrill. The judge’s ruling instead provides a sobering reminder that RICO is seriously flawed.