NCJ Number
85109
Journal
Public Historian Volume: 2 Issue: 2 Dated: (Winter 1980) Pages: 39-59
Date Published
1980
Length
21 pages
Annotation
The Organized Crime Control Act of 1970 is critically examined with respect to its history, content, purpose, and implementation.
Abstract
Public discussion of the law focused on the stereotype of the Mafia as the essence of organized crime, despite empirical evidence showing the heterogeneity of those involved in organized crime and the lack of accepted definition of such crime. The Mafia stereotype was used as a cover for repressive legislation which could and did effectively harass and persecute political dissenters. Criticisms concerning the questionable constitutionality of most of the law's provisions were rejected by its supporters. As a result, the law provided a means for political repression based on the use of the immunity provisions of Title II and the special grand juries of Title I. Such cases as the Daniel Ellsberg case and the grand jury investigations of Catholic leftists in Harrisburg, Pa., illustrate the illegalities and grand jury abuses which were probably part of a plan to curb political dissent and centralize the intelligence establishment. Even after Watergate, the Department of Justice still clings to the stereotype of organized crime and the need to retain most of the repressive paraphernalia of the 1970 law. The view that organized crime is monolithic is erroneous, as is the view that fragmented efforts to deal with it are inappropriate. The antidemocratic basis of calls for centralized efforts against organized crime must be recognized. Footnotes are provided.